THE 

IFE  STORY 


•'   :        *  .  :    '    '   ' 


Copyright,  1920,  by 

FRED  W.  ALLSOPP 

Little  Rock,  Ark. 


From  the  Press  of 

PARKE-HARPER,  AUDIGIER  &  PRICE 

Little  Rock,  Ark. 


ALBERT  PIKE 


LII 


The 


©ff 


By  FRED  W.  ALLSOPP 


But  the  truer  life  draws  nigher, 

Every  year; 
And  its  morning  star  climbs  higher, 

Every  year; 

Earth's  hold  on  us  grows  slighter, 
And  the  heavy  burden  lighter, 
And  the  Dawn  Immortal  brighter, 

Every  year. 


Published  by 

PARKE-HARPER  NEWS  SERVICE 

Little  Rock,  Ark. 
1920. 


,/U 


icroft  Li  i 


Introduction. 

Chapter  I — Pike's  Struggle  for  an  Education  and 
Desire  for  a  Freer  Life. 

Chapter        II — His  First  Adventure  in  the  West. 

Chapter  III — Entering  the  Staked  Plains. 

Chapter  IV— Following  the  Old  Santa  Fe  Trail. 

Chapter        V — Arrival  at  Fort  Smith. 

Chapter  VI — Removal  to  Little  Rock. 

Chapter  VII — His  Marriage. 

Chapter  VIII — Engages  in  the  Practice  of  Law. 

Chapter  IX — His  Oratorical  Ability — His  Public 
Services. 

Chapter        X — Takes  Up  Arms  in  the  War  With  Mexico. 

Chapter       XI — Duel  With  John  Selden  Roane. 

Chapter     XII — Service  in  the  Confederate  Army. 

Chapter   XIII — His  Work  as  an  Author. 

Chapter  XIV — Activities  of  His  Later  Years — His  Ma- 
sonic Career — Takes  Up  Residence  in 
Washington  City. 

Chapter  XV— The  Wake  of  "The  Fine  Arkansas  Gen- 
tleman." 

Chapter    XVI— The  Close  of  an  Eventful  Life. 


CHARLES  E.  ROSENBAUM,  33° 

LITTLE    ROCK,   ARKANSAS 
LIEUTENANT  GRAND   COMMANDER 

SUPREME   COUNCIL 
ANCIENT  AND  ACCEPTED   SCOTTISH   RITE   OF   FREEMASONRY 

SOUTHERN  JURISDICTION 

SOVEREIGN  GRAND   INSPECTOR  GENERAL 

IN    ARKANSAS 

Mr.  Clio  Harper,  Esq. 

Little  Rock,  Arkansas. 
My  Dear  Brother  Harper: 

You  have  kindly  placed  before  me  the  proof  sheets  of  "The 
Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike,"  written  by  Mr.  Fred  Allsopp,  and 
you  have  both  insistently  requested  that  I  should  add  a  preface 
that  in  some  manner  might  be  helpful. 

I  have  said  to  you  that  I  very  much  prefer  not  to  comply  with 
this  request,  but  because  both  yourself  and  Mr.  Allsopp  are  so 
deeply  interested  in  this  subject,  and  because  you  are  both  friends 
of  mine,  I  very  reluctantly  yield. 

After  all,  what  is  there  to  be  said  in  a  brief  space,  of  this  truly 
Great  Man,  great  in  so  many  ways,  after  the  very  readable  and 
very  attractive  story  contained  in  this  volume? 

Surely  there  is  little  I  might  add,  beyond  expressing  my  sincere 
appreciation  of  the  work  itself,  and  that  Mr.  Allsopp  and  yourself 
will  give  many,  very  many  Masons,  throughout  the  United  States, 
an  opportunity  of  reading  much  of  the  history  of  the  Man  and 
Mason  so  well  loved  in  life,  and  whose  memory  is  so  sincerely 
and  affectionately  cherished. 

There  might  be  volumes  written  of  the  works  of  General  Pike, 
and  then  the  half  would  not  be  told.  But  it  seems  to  me  this 
"Life  Story"  well  covers  incidents  and  characteristics  of  his  life, 
many  of  which  never  before  have  been  touched  on,  that  will  prove 
of  great  interest  to  all. 

General  Pike  was  a  very  industrious  writer,  and  everything  he 


wrote  was  in  his  own  handwriting,  which  was  small,  even  and 
very  beautiful.  He  never,  so  far  as  my  information  goes,  used 
anything  except  quill  pens,  and  these  he  made  and  kept  sharpened 
himself. 

In  addition  to  the  Honorary  Life  memberships  bestowed  on 
General  Pike,  as  noted  in  the  story,  there  were  many  others  of  a 
Masonic  and  Civic  nature,  and  in  the  Pike  section  of  our  great 
Library  in  the  beautiful  House  of  the  Temple  in  Washington, 
there  are  many  elaborately  engrossed  parchments  from  almost 
all  parts  of  the  world,  giving  evidence  of  the  great  esteem  in 
which  he  was  held  by  his  Masonic  Brethren. 

The  Library  itself  was  created  largely  by  General  Pike,  and 
after  he  built  it  up  to  what  is  said  to  be  the  most  valuable  private 
library  we  know,  he  gave  it  to  the  Supreme  Council,  and  it  is  now 
conducted,  with  some  additions  by  our  Supreme  Council,  for  the 
use  of  the  public  as  well  as  members  of  the  Masonic  fraternity. 

The  portrait  in  the  State  Capitol  referred  to  in  the  life  story 
was  painted  from  a  photograph  I  loaned  the  artist  who  painted 
the  portrait.  It  calls  to  my  memory  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  photograph  came  to  me.  A  little  party  from  this  State 
visited  the  General,  and  he  had  two  photographs  on  the  mantel, 
which  had  just  been  taken  and  delivered  to  him.  Before  we  left, 
one  of  these  photographs  was  given  to  the  late  Maj.  James  A. 
Henry  of  this  city,  and  the  other,  much  to  my  great  delight,  came 
to  me,  and  is  now  hanging  on  the  wall  in  my  home. 

We  cherish  this  photograph  because  of  its  peculiar  associations. 
The  visit  itself  was  a  memorable  one  to  us,  surrounded  as  we 
were  by  a  myriad  of  birds  singing  in  their  cages,  cherished  tokens 
from  many  friends  in  evidence  everywhere.  In  this  setting  was 
the  General,  in  the  best  of  spirits,  telling  one  story  after  another 
of  old  friends  in  this  State,  and  asking  after  relatives  of  those 
who  were  then  present. 

The  photograph  I  have,  I  believe,  was  the  last  that  General 
Pike  had  taken. 

CHARLES  E.  ROSENBAUM. 


PREFACE 

One  of  the  giants  of  the  early  days  in  the  Southwest 
was  General  Albert  Pike,  who  resided  in  Arkansas  from 
1832,  intermittently,  up  to  the  close  of  the  Civil  War. 

He  left  a  lasting  impression  on  the  times,  because  he 
was  a  man  who  played  a  distinguished  part  in  the  world, 
or,  rather,  for  the  reason  that  he  distinguished  himself 
by  acting  many  parts  well.  As  one  writer  observes,  "he 
touched  all  the  elements  of  romance  and  adventure  that 
existed  in  the  Southwest,  from  the  wild  Indian  tribes, 
into  one  of  which  he  had  been  adopted,  and  of  which 
he  is  said  to  have  been  a  chief,  to  the  composition  of 
verses  which  had  found  recognition  and  appreciation  so 
far  away  and  from  such  high  authority  as  Blackwood's 
(Edinburgh)  Magazine." 

Indeed,  his  adventurous  life  reads  like  wild  romance, 
and  the  events  in  which  he  participated  furnish  an  in- 
teresting contrast  between  the  men  and  movements  of 
those  pioneer  times  and  those  of  today  under  the  more 
favorable  conditions  which  exist. 

Whether  or  not  it  is  due  in  any  degree  to  the  halo 
that  tradition  gradually  brings  to  the  memory  of  great 
men,  it  would  seem  that  those  who  dominated  the  South- 
western country  fifty  to  seventy-five  years  ago  were 
bigger  and  brainier  than  the  average  man  of  today.  In 
any  event,  it  was  not  the  faint-hearted  who  conquered 
the  wilds,  but  strong  men,  like  Albert  Pike. 

Two  characters  that  will  ever  live  in  Arkansas  song 
and  story  are  Sandy  Faulkner's  "Arkansaw  Traveler" 
and  Albert  Pike.  The  imaginary  character  has  often 
brought  derision  to  the  state;  the  real  life  of  the  other 
has  added  to  its  lustre. 


THa©  LaiF©  Sftory  ©IF  ASlb®5ft  Pike 

& 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  STRUGGLE   FOR  AN   EDUCATION,  AND  THE   DESIRE  FOR 
A   FREER   LIFE. 

First  came  Ambition,  with  his  discous  eye, 

And  tiger-spring,  and  hot  and  eager  speed, 

Flushed  cheek,  imperious  glance,  demeanor  high; 
He  in  the  portal  striding  his  black  steed, 

Stained  fetlock-deep  with  red  blood  not  yet  dry, 
And  flecked  with  foam,  did  wild  cohort  lead 

Down  the  rough  mountain,  heedless  of  the  crowd 

Of  slaves  that  round  the  altar-steps  yet  bowed. 

In  August,  1825,  a  tall,  eager,  well-formed  lad  of 
sixteen  left  his  home  at  Newburyport,  Mass.,  and  went 
to  Boston,  his  birth  place.  Hurrying  over  to  Cam- 
bridge, he  sprinted  up  the  steps  to  Harvard's  main  build- 
ing and  into  the  office  of  the  registrar.  The  unknown 
youth  stood  smiling,  with  glinting  eyes,  looking  like  a 
modern  Mercury,  full  of  nerve,  ambition  and  active 
optimism.  After  a  little  patient  waiting,  cap  in  hand, 
his  worn  clothes  not  at  all  impressing  the  authorities 
to  quick  action,  the  clerk  turned  toward  him,  with  an 
inquiring  look. 

"My  name's  Pike — Albert  Pike;   Pve  qualified  for 


10  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

the  Junior  class  and  want  to  get  registered  for  the  term." 

"Qualified?"  asked  the  man,  not  unkindly. 

"Yes,  I've  been  studying  privately  to  make  the  exams 
and  have  passed.  Taught  school  to  make  it  a  go.  Now 
I've  enough  to  go  through."  And  he  grinned  happily. 

"All  right,  young  man,  if  you  can  pass  the  entrance 
examinations  and  will  make  the  necessary  advance  pay- 
ments for  the  Freshman  and  Sophomore  terms,  I  suppose 
we  can  fix  you  up." 

"You  want  payment  for  two  terms?"  he  inquired, 
with  impatient  surprise. 

"I  am  sorry  that  that  is  the  requirement,  my  boy." 

If  Albert  Pike  had  been  hit  squarely  between  the 
eyes  with  a  sledge  hammer,  he  would  not  have  been 
more  surprised  and  disappointed,  for  he  had  saved  up 
just  enough  money  to  pay  his  expenses  through  a  single 
term. 

"I  cannot  pay  in  advance  for  two  terms,  and  indeed 
I  shall  not  do  so." 

A  few  additional  words  were  exchanged,  but  they 
were  fruitless. 

Maddened  and  saddened,  he  moved  slowly  out  of  the 
office.  There  was  that  in  him,  however,  which  then  and 
there  gave  substance  to  a  resolution  that  he  would  some 
day  be  considered  worthy  by  the  college  which  now  re- 
fused to  help  him  to  receive  its  honors.  And  his  colorful 
life  will  presently  reveal  how  far  right  he  was. 

Wilted  Pike  was,  after  leaving  the  registrar's  office, 
wilted  and  a  little  embittered,  but  not  overcome.  True 
to  the  blood  in  his  veins  which  faced  the  hardships  of  a 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  11 

raw  country  in  1635,  the  young  man  would  not  be  denied 
what  was  his  due.  He  had  inherited  the  stubborn  and 
stalwart  characteristics  of  his  ancestors,  who  were  de- 
scended from  an  old  Devonshire,  England,  family.  He 
was  of  the  same  staunch  stock  as  Nicholas  Pike,  author 
of  the  first  arithmetic  published  in  America  and  the 
friend  of  George  Washington;  as  Zebulon  Pike,  who  ex- 
plored the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  other  eminent  Amer- 
icans. 

It  is  not  surprising  then  that  he  set  to  work,  with  grim 
determination,  to  educate  himself,  first  as  assistant,  and 
then  as  principal,  of  the  village  academy  at  Newbury- 
port.  When  he  began  teaching,  by  day  he  faced  his 
classes,  and  by  night  his  books,  that  he  might  qualify 
for  the  bigger  job  of  principal.  He  spent  some  time  on 
linguistic  studies,  and  the  pursuit  of  Spanish,  which  was 
one  of  them,  came  in  to  good  advantage  later  on. 

His  home  town,  thirty-five  miles  northeast  of  Boston, 
was  at  times  gay,  with  its  prim  parties,  bees,  sociables  and 
picnics;  the  shipbuilding  activities  of  the  port  also  in- 
terested the  youth,  but  young  Pike  had  a  resenting  wrath, 
as  well  as  a  powerful  ambition,  within  him,  that  de- 
veloped his  will  power  to  the  extent  of  refusing  allure- 
ments and  festivities. 

He  proved  his  mettle  and  gave  evidence  of  future 
accomplishments.  But  the  young  man  appeared  to  live 
in  an  atmosphere  of  restraint.  A  reaction  had  set  in 
within  him,  due  to  environment  and  heart-yearnings. 
He  attended  less  and  less  to  academic  studies,  and  found 
himself  pondering  more  and  more  on  tales  of  the  new 


12  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

western  land,  which  he  read  in  the  newspapers  and  heard 
discussed  among  his  friends.  Confined  in  a  small  town, 
and  thrown  with  rigid  Puritans,  he  longed  to  lead  a  freer 
life.  There  was  no  big  opportunity  at  home.  Therefore 
he  decided  as  soon  as  possible  to  leave  and  strike  out 
for  himself.  All  his  efforts  now  tended  to  make  money 
enough  to  take  him  to  the  West. 

Many  other  ambitious  young  men  had  left  their 
homes  for  the  newer  countries.  Sargent  Prentiss  had 
settled  in  Mississippi;  Stephen  A.  Douglass  went  from 
Vermont  to  Illinois;  John  Slidell  moved  from  New 
York  to  Louisiana;  James  H.  Hammond  left  his  home 
in  Massachusetts  to  go  to  South  Carolina,  and  Robert  J. 
Walker  of  Pennsylvania  took  up  his  residence  in  Mis- 
sissippi. 

There  was  a  rush  of  enterprising  and  adventurous 
people  to  the  Province  of  New  Mexico,  which  was  be- 
lieved to  be  a  kind  of  Utopia,  where  gold  and  silver, 
as  well  as  beaver,  were  to  be  found  in  abundance.  It 
was  in  that  direction  that  Pike  turned  his  eyes. 


CHAPTER  II. 

HIS  FIRST  ADVENTURE  IN  THE  WEST. 

Farewell  to  thee,  New  England! 

Farewell  to  thee  and  thine! 
Good-bye  to  leafy  Newbury, 

And  Rowley's  hills  of  pine! 

Whether  I  am  on  ocean  tossed, 
Or  hunt  where  the  wild  deer  run, 

Still  shall  it  be  my  proudest  boast 
That  I'm  New  England's  son. 

Pike's  first  great  draught  of  adventure  was  taken 
when  he  left  his  Eastern  home  for  the  West,  in  1831, 
and  joined  a  hunting  and  trapping  party. 

He  walked  500  miles  of  the  distance  from  Massa- 
chusetts to  St.  Louis,  covered  the  remainder  of  the  jour- 
ney by  ho  at  and  stage  coach,  and  was  more  than  two 
months  on  the  way.  Traveling  in  those  days  was  slow 
and  tedious. 

The  verses  he  wrote  in  farewell  to  New  England 
reveal  a  strong  love  for  the  section  of  his  birth  and  for 
his  ancestry.  He  was  still,  one  may  say,  of  tender  years 
and  considerable  tenderness  of  heart,  at  twenty-three. 
So,  though  aspiration  pulled  him  far  from  the  spots  of 
his  childhood,  the  verses  show  his  state  of  heart.  He  was 
not  only  adventurous  but  a  thinker  and  a  poet,  large- 


14      The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

— — — 

minded,  chivalrous,  with  a  steadfast  determination  to  do 
something  in  the  world. 

After  spending  a  little  time  at  St.  Louis,  for  rest,  and 
to  get  his  bearings,  he  started  for  Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico, 
which  was  then  the  depot  of  supplies  for  the  Southwest- 
ern country.  This  was  in  the  month  of  August. 

Pike  was  very  much  surprised  to  find  that  the  Gov- 
ernor's palace  at  Santa  Fe  was  merely  a  mud  building, 
fifteen  feet  high,  with  walls  four  feet  thick,  and  a  mud 
portico,  supported  by  rough  pine  timbers.  The  gardens 
and  fountains  and  grand  staircases,  which  he  had  read 
about,  were  wanting.  "The  Governor  may  raise  some 
red  pepper  in  his  garden,"  he  said,  "but  he  gets  his  water 
from  the  public  spring." 

In  a  day  or  two  Pike  heard  that  a  Missourian,  named 
John  Harris,  was  collecting  a  party  at  Taos  to  go  on  a 
hunting  expedition  to  the  Comanche  country,  upon  the 
heads  of  Red  River  and  Fausse  Washita.  He  returned 
to  Taos  to  join  that  party.  Taos  was  an  adobe  village  of 
less  than  a  thousand  inhabitants,  75  miles  south  of  Santa 
Fe.  The  valley  surrounding  it  was  occupied  by  Mexican 
farmers,  and  it  was  an  important  trading  point  for  north- 
ern New  Mexico. 

A  man  named  Campbell  was  going  into  the  same 
country,  and,  before  leaving  Santa  Fe,  Pike  bought  from 
him  an  outfit,  consisting  of  one  horse,  one  mule,  six  traps 
and  a  supply  of  powder,  lead  and  tobacco.  Pike,  Camp- 
bell, a  Frenchman,  and  several  Mexicans  whom  they  had 
picked  up,  set  out  together  to  seek  Harris  at  Taos. 

Camp  on  the  first  night  out,  when  the  men,  fully  dress- 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  15 

ed,  lay  down  to  rest,  with  their  guns  by  their  sides,  only 
to  be  awakened  many  times  by  the  howling  of  wild  ani- 
mals, was  a  novel  experience  for  the  erstwhile  tenderfoot 
from  New  England. 

The  next  episode  was  to  get  lost  in  the  Pecuris,  thirty 
miles  away,  which  resulted  from  Pike  and  Campbell  be- 
coming separated  from  the  other  men  as  they  rode  along. 
Having  no  guide,  they  took  the  wrong  direction.  They 
traveled  until  nearly  night,  and  then  retraced  their  steps 
for  about  four  miles,  to  a  place  where  they  saw  the  re- 
mains of  an  Indian  fire.  Here  they  kindled  a  large  fire, 
tied  their  horses  and  slept.  In  the  morning  they  mount- 
ed and  again  proceeded  towards  Taos.  After  an  ex- 
asperating delay,  they  finally  overtook  the  other  mem- 
bers of  their  party,  who  had  in  the  meantime  joined  Har- 
ris, near  Taos. 

The  combined  party  numbered  70  or  80  men,  of 
whom  30  were  Americans,  one  was  a  Eutaw,  one  an 
Apache,  another  a  Frenchman,  and  the  others  New  Mex- 
icans. Each  man  was  mounted  and  armed  with  a  gun, 
besides  having  a  pistol  or  two  in  his  belt. 

"Trappers,"  wrote  Pike  in  his  diary,  "are  like  sailors 
when  you  come  to  describe  them;  the  portrait  of  one  an- 
swers for  the  whole  genus."  But  he  singled  out  a  few 
of  the  party  for  special  mention: 

Aaron  Lewis,  who  afterwards  became  a  distinguished 
soldier,  came  from  Ft.  Towson,  near  the  Arkansas  border, 
and  Pike  got  acquainted  with  him  when  he  first  reached 
Taos.  He  was  a  magnificent  specimen  of  manhood,  over 
six  feet  in  height  and  weighing  200  pounds,  with  clear 


16  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

blue  eyes  and  a  ruddy  complexion,  of  undaunted  courage, 
coolness  and  self-possession,  an  excellent  shot,  a  genial 
companion,  whose  sense  of  good  humor  was  proverbial, 
and  he  and  Pike  became  fast  friends. 

Bill  Williams,  who  was  once  a  preacher,  and  later 
an  interpreter  to  the  Osage  Indians,  gaunt,  red-headed, 
with  hard  weather-beaten  features,  marked  deeply  with 
smallpox,  all  muscle  and  sinew,  "the  most  indefatigable 
hunter  in  the  world,"  said  Pike,  "with  an  ambition  to 
kill  more  deer  and  catch  more  beaver  than  any  man 
about,  and  having  no  glory  except  in  the  woods." 

Tom  Burke,  who  Pike  said,  was  a  "Virginian  with 
an  Irish  tongue;"  and  "various  others  who  were  better 
at  boasting  than  at  fighting,  with  a  few  who  might  be 
depended  upon  in  case  of  an  emergency." 

An  old  Comanche  was  procured  for  a  guide.  Then 
the  party  left  the  Valley  of  the  Pecuris,  and  camped  that 
night  at  Mora  plaza.  The  sole  inhabitants  of  this  old 
village  at  that  time  were  rattlesnakes,  of  which  about 
three  dozen  were  killed  in  and  around  the  old  mud 
houses. 

They  proceeded  up  the  Pecos  river  through  the  valley 
for  twelve  miles.  Contrary  to  their  hopes,  little  game 
was  killed,  except  a  few  antelopes. 

No  incident  worth  mentioning  occurred  until  the 
ninth  day,  when  a  dispute  arose  between  Harris  and 
Campbell,  over  a  trivial  matter,  which  resulted  in  a  sep- 
aration. Harris  insisted  on  going  to  the  Little  Red  river 
through  a  dry  prairie.  The  balance  of  the  men  follow- 
ed the  guide  along  the  Pecos  river,  in  a  southeasterly  di- 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  17 

rection,  to  the  Bosque  Grande,  or  Bosque  Redonda,  as 
Pike  called  it,  where  entrance  would  be  made  to  the  great 
prairie.  They  were  six  days  more  in  reaching  this  point, 
which  was  about  forty  miles  north  of  the  present  site  of 
Roswell,  New  Mexico. 

Skulls  greeted  the  men  here  and  there  as  they  passed 
on,  and  these  grim  reminders  of  the  fate  of  former  trav- 
elers in  those  parts  had  a  depressing  effect. 

Just  before  reaching  the  camp  at  the  Bosque,  some  of 
the  Mexicans  were  met  by  a  party  of  their  countrymen, 
who  had  just  returned  from  the  Canon  del  Resgate,  in  the 
Staked  Plains.  They  went  there  to  trade  bread,  blankets, 
punche  and  beads  to  the  Indians  for  buffalo  robes,  bear 
skins  and  horses;  but  they  were  overpowered  by  the  In- 
dians, robbed  of  all  their  goods,  and  warned  to  return  to 
their  own  country.  They  stated  that  these  same  Indians 
had  shortly  before  routed  a  train  of  American  wagons, 
and  captured  1500  mules,  as  well  as  scalped  some  of  the 
white  men. 

Two  of  the  Mexicans  had  already  deserted.  Pike, 
who  spoke  Spanish,  was  called  upon  to  attend  a  council 
of  the  Mexicans,  who  were  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of 
entering  the  Staked  Plains  after  receiving  the  news  re- 
ferred to.  It  was  represented  that  the  Indians  were  on 
the  warpath  against  all  Americans,  and  were  determined 
that  none  of  them  should  trap  in  their  country.  To  make 
matters  worse,  Manuel,  the  Indian  guide,  pretended  that 
if  he  entered  the  Comanche  country  as  a  guide,  the  In- 
dians would  sacrifice  him,  as  well  as  the  party.  The 
Comanche  declared  that  he  would  not  go  into  the  Staked 


18  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

Plains  if  one  American  remained  in  the  party,  and  the 
Mexicans  had  made  up  their  minds  to  the  same  effect. 
Finding  that  they  would  leave  the  balance  of  the  party 
to  the  mercy  of  the  Comanches,  or  perhaps  actually 
deliver  them  into  the  hands  of  the  Indians,  it  was  deter- 
mined to  leave  the  refractory  ones. 

The  action  of  the  Indian  and  the  Mexicans  caused  a 
realignment  the  next  morning.  The  natives  of  the  party 
returned  to  their  homes,  it  is  supposed,  while  Campbell 
went  back  to  Santa  Fe.  Pike  and  the  others  struck  out 
and  rejoined  the  Harris  party,  from  which  they  had  sep- 
arated on  the  ninth  day,  on  account  of  the  disagreement 
between  Harris  and  Campbell.  While  Harris  had  never 
camped  with  the  Pike  party  after  the  separation,  he  was 
proceeding  to  the  same  destination,  and  was  never  far 
away. 

The  day  following  they  saw  thousands  of  wild 
horses,  some  of  which  were  very  beautiful.  Although 
the  men  were  tired  and  suffered  for  water,  it  was  with 
high  spirits  that  they  entered  the  Staked  Plains,  which 
were  then  to  the  Comanche  Indians  what  the  desert  of  Sa- 
hara was  to  the  Bedouins.  The  prairie  lay  before  their 
eyes  like  a  boundless  ocean. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that,  although  but  23  years  of 
age,  Pike  was  chosen  Captain  of  the  expedition.  The 
selection  was  not  accidental.  He  was  a  young  man 
whose  commanding  presence,  sincerity,  courage  and  com- 
panionable disposition  made  him  at  once  a  leader  among 
his  fellows.  Besides,  he  was  a  valuable  counsellor  on 
account  of  his  superior  intelligence,  and  the  knowledge 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  19 

which  he  had  gained  through  his  studies  of  the  line  fol- 
lowed by  the  Spanish  adventurers  who  planted,  over  three 
hundred  years  before,  at  intervals  on  the  plains,  the  bois 
d'  arc  poles — those  mute  sentinels  of  the  past. 

In  discussing  with  his  companions  the  origin  of  the 
name  of  the  Staked  Plains,  Pike  said: 

"A  Spanish  expedition,  about  the  middle  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  had  pushed  westward  from  Florida  across 
the  Mississippi  and  through  Arkansas  to  its  western 
border.  They  cut  bois  d'  arc  poles  from  the  trees  which 
grew  on  the  banks  of  the  Red  river,  not  far  from  where 
Ft.  Towson  was  afterwards  established,  in  the  Choctaw 
Nation  of  the  old  Indian  Territory.  Taking  several 
wagon  loads  of  the  poles,  the  bold  adventurers  started 
across  these  plains,  following  as  near  as  possible  the  35th 
parallel.  As  they  proceeded,  an  occasional  pole  was 
planted,  in  order  that  they  might  not  lose  their  way  on 
returning.  The  country  traversed  was  afterwards  known 
as  the  Staked  Plain." 


CHAPTER  III. 

ENTERING  THE  STAKED  PLAINS — HIS  EXCITING  EXPERIENCES 
AND  THE  HARDSHIPS  SUFFERED. 

Out  to  the  Desert!  from  the  mart 

Of  bloodless  cheeks,  and  lightless  eyes, 
And  broken  hopes  and  shattered  hearts 

And  miseries! 
Farewell  my  land!    Farewell  my  pen! 

Farewell  hard  world — thy  harder  life! 
Now  to  the  Desert  once  again! 

The  gun  and  knife! 

After  camping  the  night  before  near  some  lodges  of 
poles,  which  were  the  remains  of  an  Indian  village,  on 
the  sixteenth  day  out,  the  Pike  party  entered  the  cele- 
brated Llano  Estacado,  whose  very  name  was  a  mystery 
and  a  terror  to  the  white  man  in  those  days.  Entrance 
was  made  by  way  of  the  Comanche  trail,  which  was  also 
used  by  the  Indian  traders. 

The  illimitable  expanse  of  prairie  filled  Pike  with 
wonder,  and  inspired  him  to  write  a  striking  poem.  The 
sublime  beauty  of  the  sun  rising  calmly  from  the  breast 
of  the  plain,  like  a  sudden  fire  flashing  in  the  sky,  was 
calculated  to  make  more  than  ordinary  appeal  to  his  ro- 
mantic nature.  This  was  also  true  of  the  mirage  which 
later  painted  lakes  and  fires  and  groves  on  the  grassy 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  21 

ridges  in  the  stillness  of  the  afternoon,  cheating  the  trav- 
eler by  its  splendid  deceptions. 

Before  them  stood  a  bois  d'  arc  pole.  "Could  that 
silent  sentinel  speak,"  said  Pike,  "a  story  of  more  than 
three  centuries  could  be  unfolded,  and  it  would  be  more 
tragic,  perhaps,  than  any  yet  received  of  the  great  plains 
of  the  west." 

They  were  now  in  all  the  glory  of  prairie  life,  with 
an  abundance  of  good  water  and  splendid  weather,  to 
encourage  them.  At  night  they  lay  down  with  a  feeling 
of  freedom  and  independence,  if  not  of  entire  security. 
On  the  second  morning,  before  they  had  risen  they  had 
heard  the  grunting  of  a  band  of  buffaloes  as  they  ap- 
proached. Two  were  killed;  the  hump  meat  and  the 
tongues  were  cut  out  of  the  carcasses,  and  the  other  parts 
were  left  by  the  way-side. 

Then  began  a  series  of  tough  ups  and  downs,  tough 
old  buffalo  for  several  days,  starvation  rations,  a  brace 
of  wild  turkeys  to  provide  a  feast,  which  was  only  equal- 
led later  by  some  wonderful  stew  combination  bought 
from  an  Indian  encampment.  When  no  game  was  forth- 
coming for  three  days,  Pike  ordered  that  an  old  mare  be 
killed,  but  the  mess  refused  to  be  partakers  of  the  meat. 

The  prospect  became  dreary,  and  there  were  signs  of 
Indians,  who  might  be  hostile.  A  guard  was  appointed 
to  stand  watch  at  night,  and  Pike  said,  "To  stand  guard 
at  night  in  the  desert,  while  others  sleep,  with  no  com- 
panion to  commune  with,  while  shooting  stars  bedeck 
the  heavens  and  howling  wolves  and  coyotes  surround 


22  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

the  camp,  is  sufficient  to  try  the  nerves  of  the  boldest 
and  bravest." 

The  days  were  exceedingly  hot,  and  the  men,  often 
being  thirsty,  were  tantalized  by  seeing  at  a  distance 
what  looked  to  be  ponds  of  clear  rippling  water.  The 
deception  continued  until  they  were  within  a  few  yards 
of  the  place,  when,  to  their  disappointment,  it  was  found 
to  consist  of  merely  a  hollow,  encrusted  with  salt. 

After  traveling  for  five  days  longer,  tracks  of  buffalo 
were  found  near  a  hole  of  water.  Pike  was  wrought  up 
to  fever  heat  by  the  prospect  of  his  first  hunt  for  the 
animal.  He  and  seventeen  others  warily  approached  to 
within  a  hundred  yards  of  five  fat  bulls  that  were  lying 
down.  A  rush  was  made  for  them.  The  buffaloes  were 
up  and  gone  in  a  jiffy.  The  chase  was  exciting. 

"Although  the  buffalo,"  said  Pike,  "appears,  both 
standing  and  running,  to  be  the  most  unwieldy  thing  in 
the  world,  he  moves  with  considerable  velocity;  no  matter 
how  old  and  lean  he  is,  or  how  incapable  of  locomotion 
he  may  seem,  never  more  than  one  motion  is  observed; 
he  is  up  and  running  in  an  instant,  and  usually  outdis- 
tances the  horseman." 

Shot  after  shot,  and  shout  after  shout,  told  the  zeal 
of  the  hunters,  and  in  a  short  time  one  buffalo  fell,  to 
Pike's  credit.  In  about  two  hours,  another  party,  after 
a  mad  chase,  came  in  with  one  more. 

But  there  was  nothing  to  burn  with  which  to  cook  the 
meat,  not  even  the  dried  ordure  of  horses,  which  had 
hitherto  never  failed  them.  They  could  only  make  a 
blaze  of  tall  weeds  and  throw  on  the  meat.  Nothing 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  23 

could  be  more  disgusting.  Lean,  tough  and  dry,  black- 
ened with  the  brief  blaze,  impregnated  with  the  strong, 
filthy  smoke  from  the  weeds,  and  only  half  cooked,  it  re- 
quired the  utmost  influence  of  that  stern  dictator,  hun- 
ger, to  induce  the  men  to  eat  the  meat. 

"The  meat  of  the  buffalo  cow,"  said  Pike,  "is  su- 
perior to  any  other  meat,  but  even  horse  flesh  is  better 
than  the  meat  of  a  lean  bull." 

They  travelled  for  a  week  after  leaving  the  Pecos 
before  they  came  in  sight  of  trees,  which  were  hailed 
merrily  as  old  friends  by  the  men.  The  loneliness  of 
the  prairie  is  accentuated  by  the  lack  of  timber.  Water 
was  also  found  here,  near  an  Indian  camp. 

The  Indians  were  supposed  to  be  hostile,  and  Bill 
Williams  became  obstreperous  and  wanted  to  kill  a 
squaw  who  was  riding  toward  the  camp,  leading  a  pack 
horse,  loaded  with  wood.  Pike,  wiser  and  calmer,  as  a 
leader  must  be,  restrained  his  impulse.  Bill  said  he 
would  sooner  sleep  three  nights  without  water  than  go 
to  the  waterhole  near  the  Indian  village,  and  the  silence 
of  the  others  showed  acquiescence  in  what  he  said,  but 
it  was  necessary  to  have  water. 

Some  of  the  men  began  firing  off  and  reloading 
their  guns,  when  the  Comanches,  mounted,  came  out  in 
some  numbers  toward  them.  Three  of  the  Indians,  in- 
cluding an  old  chief,  came  forward,  whereupon  the  in- 
terpreter was  directed  by  Pike  to  ask  if  they  were  friends. 

"We  have  shaken  hands  with  the  Americans  and  are 
friends,"  was  the  reply;  but  Bill  Williams  again  became 
war-like,  and  wanted  to  shoot  the  chief,  until  Pike  threat- 


24  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

ened  to  have  him  killed  if  he  attempted  it.  Pike  would 
not  have  sacrificed  his  friend  for  half  a  dozen  Indians, 
but  the  threat  had  the  desired  effect. 

The  Indians  continued  to  arrive  in  force,  armed  with 
spears  and  bows.  Pike  directed  the  chief  to  order  them 
to  keep  their  distance  if  they  did  not  want  to  be  fired 
upon.  They  were  molested  no  further. 

In  the  evening  a  young  brave  appeared  and  invited 
Pike  and  two  others  to  go  and  eat  with  him.  Taking 
their  guns,  they  went  accordingly.  They  found  the  old 
chief  and  his  family  outside  the  lodge,  seated  around 
a  fire,  over  which  a  small  brass  kettle  was  smoking. 
They  were  motioned,  with  true  Indian  gravity  and  some- 
thing of  respect,  to  take  seats.  The  contents  of  the  kettle 
were  emptied  into  a  wooden  bowl  and  placed  before  the 
men.  It  was  the  boiled  flesh  of  a  fat  buffalo,  perfectly 
fresh.  It  proved  to  be  a  most  delicious  meal  to  the  half 
famished  men.  Kettle  after  kettle  was  filled  and  emp- 
tied, for  a  man  never  knows  how  much  he  can  eat  until 
he  has  tried  the  prairie.  Pike  said  that  four  pounds  of 
meat  was  no  great  allowance  for  the  meal  of  a  hungry 
hunter. 

ihe  Indians  were  paid  for  the  meal  with  tobacco 
and  a  knife  or  two,  and  the  hunters  returned  to  their 
camp — not,  however,  without  that  indispensible  Indian 
ceremony,  a  general  smoke.  Pike's  pipe  went  out  once 
or  twice  'round  the  whole  party  of  Indians,  women  and 
all.  Declining  the  chief's  invitation  to  hunt  with  him, 
still  fearing  treachery  at  his  hands,  the  party  left  the 
camp  on  the  next  day,  going  due  east. 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  25 

"This  band,"  said  Pike,  "was  composed  of  a  sorry 
lot  of  Indians — about  a  thousand  in  all,  with  few  blan- 
kets, shabbily  dressed,  without  any  of  the  gaudiness 
which  most  Indians  exhibit.  Their  only  apparel  was  a 
dirty,  ragged  dress  of  leather  and  a  part  of  a  blanket." 

He  spoke  of  one  old  woman  in  particular  who  he 
imagined  would  be  valuable  as  a  model  for  a  painter 
who  might  be  desirous  of  sketching  his  satanic  majesty. 
While  looking  at  the  miserable  specimens,  he  shuddered 
as  he  thought  some  of  them,  with  fiendish  look,  might 
soon  be  exercising  the  infernal  ingenuity  of  their  natures 
on  him. 

Many  piles  of  buffalo  bones  were  seen  along  the 
route.  Pike  observed  that  whenever  the  Comanches 
killed  a  buffalo  they  made  a  pile  of  the  bones,  for  the 
purpose  of  appeasing  the  offended  animals.  They  had 
ceremonies  performed  over  the  bones  by  their  medicine 
men.  No  matter  how  poor  a  fire  they  had,  or  how  wet 
and  cold  they  might  be,  the  Indian  would  not  burn  a 
bone,  alleging  that  it  made  them  unlucky  in  hunting. 

To  add  to  their  discomfort,  in  places  the  ground  was 
covered  with  sand  burrs,  which  pierced  Pike's  moccasins 
and  kept  him  continually  busy  picking  them  out  of  his 
feet. 

After  traveling  so  far  and  seeing  none,  they  had 
almost  despaired  of  finding  the  immense  numbers  of 
beaver  which  they  had  anticipated. 

In  a  day  or  two  another  Comanche  village  was 
reached.  Here  were  about  50  lodges,  much  handsomer 
than  those  seen  in  the  other  village.  There  was  also  a 


26  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

medicine  lodge,  made  of  black  skins.  There  were  no 
warriors.  Several  of  the  women  had  their  legs  cut  and 
mangled  by  knives,  and  uttered  lamentations  which  were 
horrible  to  listen  to.  They  had  lost  their  men,  and  it 
was  supposed  that  this  had  occurred  in  the  fight  between 
the  Americans  and  Indians  which  has  been  referred  to. 
Large  numbers  of  wild  horses  were  seen  in  this  vicinity 
— probably  as  many  as  5,000.  Pike  remarked  that  it  was 
astonishing  that  so  many  horses  should  have  originated 
from  those  lost,  abandoned  or  left  by  Spanish  adventur- 
ers who  had  visited  these  parts  centuries  before. 

The  hunters  were  next  marooned  near  the  Canon  del 
Resgate  by  a  great  storm,  which  was  worse  than  a  tem- 
pest at  sea.  Their  animals  suffered  greatly  from  the 
storm.  Immense  herds  of  buffalo  were  passed  through, 
but  the  men  were  unable  to  give  them  chase,  because 
their  horses  and  mules  were  worn  out,  and  the  eyes  of 
the  men  were  filled  with  wind-sand. 

These  were  perilous  days  for  the  travelers.  The 
party  had  dwindled  in  numbers  until  there  remained 
only  five — Pike,  Lewis,  Irwin,  Ish  and  Gillett — their 
money  was  nearly  all  gone,  their  clothes  were  dirty  and 
ragged.  One  of  the  men,  named  Irwin,  had  only  half 
a  shirt.  All  had  repeatedly  suffered  the  distressing 
pangs  of  hunger.  Many  times  they  had  been  compelled 
to  drink  muddy  water.  Ish  had  received  a  kick  a  few 
days  before,  and,  in  consequence,  was  lame  in  the  leg. 
This  was  a  great  inconvenience  when  it  was  found  neces- 
sary on  one  occasion  to  straddle  a  log  or  "coon  it"  in 
crossing  a  creek. 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  27 

Pike  was,  in  fact,  decided  to  retrace  his  steps,  after 
concluding  that  he  was  not  on  the  best  road  to  fame 
and  fortune.  As  may  be  imagined,  he  was  not  in  the 
happiest  frame  of  mind.  He  and  his  companions  were 
worn  out  and,  for  the  nonce,  ready  to  cry  quits  with 
nature  and  seek  again  the  conventional  comforts  of  civili- 
zation. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

RETURNING  NORTH,  VIA  THE  OLD  SANTA  FE  TRAIL,  PIKE  HAS 
TO  TRAVEL  AFOOT  A  GREAT  DEAL  OF  THE  WAY. 

Oh,  who  with  the  sons  of  the  plains  can  compete, 
When  from  west,  south  and  north,  like  the  torrents  they 

meet? 

And  when  doth  the  face  of  the  white  trader  blanche, 
Except  when  at  moonrise  he  hears  the  Comanche? 

After  having  spent  about  sixty  days  on  the  expedi- 
tion from  Taos,  the  Pike  party  turned  to  the  north,  headed 
back  toward  civilization.  For  days  in  passing  through 
the  Cross  Timbers,  which  are  a  belt  of  timber  extending 
from  the  Canadian  river,  or  a  little  farther  north,  to  an 
unknown  distance  south  of  Red  river,  there  was  little 
variety  to  report.  The  adventurers  were  sometimes  in 
the  open  prairie,  and  again  would  be  forced  to  proceed 
for  miles  through  a  tangled  wilderness  of  scruboak,  wild 
grapes  and  briers,  which  hardly  allowed  the  mules  to 
make  their  way  through.  Pike's  ankles  were  frequently 
covered  with  blood,  and  nothing  but  strong  pantaloons 
saved  his  legs.  Finally  he  was  compelled  to  dismount 
and  drive  his  horse  before  him,  carrying  his  blanket  and 
other  articles  on  his  back.  Every  variety  of  travel  was 
experienced  except  that  which  was  pleasant  and  easy. 
But  the  men  would  not  have  complained  if  they  had  not 
been  out  of  tobacco  and  meat. 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  29 

For  three  days  they  passed  through  the  outskirts  of 
a  prairie  fire,  but  this  did  not  worry  Pike  as  much  as 
the  loss  of  his  last  knife.  He  had  left  it  behind  some- 
where, and  therefore  had  a  fair  chance  to  discover  the 
tenderness  of  his  fingers  and  the  increased  value  of  the 
knife. 

They  were  rejoiced  one  day  to  find  running  water, 
and  they  hoped  to  find  beaver.  They  found  no  beaver, 
but  retained  an  abundance  of  hope,  if  it  were  at  times 
mingled  with  disgust. 

As  the  prairies  disappeared,  the  travelers  struck 
barren  hills  and  deep  gullies.  There  was  no  trail.  The 
men  separated  in  scouring  for  game,  and  Pike,  Lewis 
and  Irwin  strayed  so  far  away  as  to  become  lost  from 
the  party  on  the  right  of  the  Brazos  river.  Going  into 
the  hills  again,  they  met  Bill  Williams  and  seven  or 
eight  others,  all  lost.  This  crowd  camped  together  that 
night,  and,  after  traveling  forty  miles  the  next  day  and 
repeatedly  firing  distress  signals,  they  finally  caught  up 
with  the  balance  of  the  company.  The  reunion  was  a 
happy  one,  as  these  unfortunate  men,  having  almost 
abandoned  hope,  had  already  begun  to  vision  themselves 
in  the  shape  of  skulls.  Misery  is  said  to  love  company. 

One  day  Pike  and  Lewis  found  some  large,  purple, 
prickly  pears.  How  tempting  the  big  juicy  things  looked 
to  the  famished  men!  They  ate  heartily  of  them,  with 
the  consequence  that  they  suffered  a  terrible  ague. 

When  they  crossed  Red  river,  they  overtook  an  Osage 
Indian,  who  led  them  to  an  Indian  village  of  thirty 
lodges.  Here  they  were  bestowed  in  various  positions 


30  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

upon  buffalo  robes  in  the  chief's  tent.  They  enjoyed 
much  needed  rest  and  were  fed  fifteen  times  in  two  days 
by  this  generous  tribe  of  noble-looking  Indians.  These 
Osages  were  most  friendly,  in  great  contrast  to  the  Co- 
manches,  Choctaws  and  Cherokees. 

Pike  now  abandoned  his  horse,  and  soon  after  leaving 
the  Indians,  a  man  named  Gillette  killed  his  own  horse 
for  food  and  became  Pike's  companion  on  foot. 

They  soon  reached  the  Red  river  bottom,  where 
plenty  of  turkey  and  deer  were  found,  and  the  men 
had  enough  to  eat  for  several  days. 

They  next  passed  through  another  barren  region  and 
were  forced  to  camp  in  a  rain  storm,  without  drinking 
water  or  food. 

The  road  which  runs  from  Red  river  to  Fort  Smith 
was  finally  reached,  and,  proceeding  to  the  ferry  on  the 
Poteau,  they  found  the  hut  of  a  little  Frenchman,  who 
they  believed  would  entertain  them. 

"Well,  friends,"  remarked  Pike,  "there  is  hope  for  a 
warm  meal  at  last.  Frenchy  will  let  us  cook  a  meal." 
And  they  all  began  to  vision  a  full,  happy  stomach,  while 
Pike  interviewed  the  Frenchman,  to  come  out  with  a 
long,  serious  face. 

"What's  the  matter;  will  he  not  let  us  cook  a  meal?" 

"Yes,  the  Frenchman  is  ready  enough  to  allow  any- 
thing, but  who  has  a  kettle,  a  fire,  some  water  and  food?" 

There  was  a  big  bunch  of  men,  and  the  kettle  of  the 
Frenchman  was  small,  holding  one  pint  of  water,  and 
the  food  consisted  of  pounded  corn.  The  breadline — or 
rather  cornline — formed  eagerly.  But  as  each  man  could 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  31 

have  but  a  teaspoonful  from  each  kettleful  of  corn  cook- 
ed, the  feeding  process  took  half  the  night.  One  can 
imagine  the  teaspoonful's  effect  on  the  appetite  of  a 
lusty,  hearty  traveler,  and  his  pangs  while  awaiting  his 
next  small  share. 

On  the  last  lap  of  the  journey  before  reaching  Fort 
Smith,  Arkansas,  Pike  found  it  necessary  to  sell  his  rifle 
to  a  Choctaw  for  a  few  pounds  of  meat,  and  Ish  dis- 
posed of  his  gun  in  the  same  manner. 

The  next  day,  which  was  the  10th  of  December,  Fort 
Smith  was  reached. 

From  the  crossing  of  the  Blue  creek  to  the  first  cross- 
ing of  Boggy,  which  are  branches  of  Red  river  below 
the  Washita,  they  traveled  fifty  miles;  thence  to  the 
second  crossing,  28  miles;  thence  to  the  road  or  trail, 
27;  and  on  the  trail,  200  miles.  In  the  whole  trip  they 
traveled,  from  Taos,  1,400  miles,  or  about  1,300  miles 
from  San  Miguel.  Of  this  distance  Pike  walked  about 
650  miles. 

The  journey  covered  three  months  and  four  days. 

Pike  seems  to  have  enjoyed  the  adventure.  He  found 
time  to  compose  verses,  and  among  the  big  things  he 
wrote,  the  poem  of  "Ariel,"  written  in  the  prairie,  while 
his  horse  was  feeding  at  his  side,  stands  out  prominently. 
It  is  a  lengthy  piece,  which  represents  the  poet  as  having 
had  a  dream,  in  which  the  Spirit  of  the  Air  comes  and 
bids  him  follow  him.  ^With  quick  flight,  as  the  sky- 
lark sunward  goes — led  by  the  splendor  of  Ariel's  wing," 
he  makes  a  survey  of  the  world  and  the  unknown  regions. 
"As  swiftly  the  winged  bark  flew  on,"  while  "looking 


32  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

downward  from  the  prow,"  the  homes  of  all  the  Passions, 
Ambitions,  Virtues  and  Vices  of  mankind  are  visited 
and  commented  upon;  making  a  very  fanciful  and  im- 
pressive study. 

And  his  own  words  assure  us  of  the  zest  with  which 
he  recalled  his  experiences  in  spite  of  the  hardships 
which  he  suffered,  for  he  wrote: 

"I  cannot  wonder  that  men  find  enjoyment  in  this 
kind  of  life.  I  can  see  nothing  overdrawn  or  exaggerated 
in  the  characters  of  Hawkeye  and  Bushfield.  Theresis 
so  much  independence  and  self-dependence  in  the  lonely 
hunter's  life;  so  much  freedom  from  law  and  restraint, 
form  and  ceremony,  that  one  who  commences  the  life 
is  almost  certain  to  continue  it.  With  but  few  wants, 
and  those  easily  supplied,  a  man  feels  none  of  the  en- 
thralments  which  surround  him  when  connected  with 
society.  His  gun  and  his  own  industry  supply  him  with 
fire,  food,  water  and  clothing.  He  eats  his  simple  meal, 
and  has  no  one  to  thank  for  it  but  his  Maker.  He  travels 
where  he  pleases  and  sleeps  whenever  he  feels  inclined. 
If  there  is  danger  about,  it  comes  from  enemies,  and  not 
from  false  friends.  When  he  enters  society,  his  former 
life  renders  it  doubly  tedious  to  him.  He  has  forgotten 
the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  the  world.  He  has  neglected 
his  person  until  neatness  and  scrupulous  attention  to 
the  minutia  of  appearance  are  wearisome  to  him,  and  he 
has  contracted  habits  unfit  for  polished  and  polite  so- 
ciety. Now  he  cannot  sit  cross-legged  on  a  blanket, — 
and  instead  of  his  luxurious  lounging  position  must  sit 
upright  in  a  chair.  His  pipe  must  be  laid  aside  and  his 


SECTION    OF   LIBRARY,    SUPREME    COUNCIL    BUILDING. 
SCOTTISH  RITE  MASONS,  USED  BY  GENERAL  PIKE. 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  33 

simple  dress  changed  for  the  cumbersome  and  confined 
trappings  of  the  gentleman.  In  short,  he  is  lost,  and  he 
betakes  himself  to  the  woods  again.  The  first  night  that 
he  builds  his  fire,  twists  his  meat  around  a  stick  and  puts 
it  before  the  blazing  logs  to  roast,  and  then,  after  sup- 
plying his  inner  wants,  lies  down  with  only  the  blue  sky 
above  him,  and  the  cool,  clear,  healthy  wind  fanning  his 
cheek,  is  the  beginning  to  him  of  a  better  and  freer  life." 

The  diary  of  the  journey  which  is  generally  known 
as  "Pike's  Diary,"  but  which,  it  seems,  was  the  joint  work 
of  Pike  and  Lewis,  is  quite  extensive  and  intensely  inter- 
esting. Years  before  the  death  of  Pike,  Colonel  J.  N. 
Smithee  of  Arkansas  called  on  him  and,  referring  to  his 
adventures  on  the  western  plains  when  a  young  man, 
asked  him  why  he  never  elaborated  and  printed  those 
experiences  in  book  form  for  general  information. 

"Washington  Irving  and  other  writers,"  replied  Pike, 
"have  pretty  thoroughly  exhausted  that  field.  Besides, 
I  have  never  had  time  to  give  the  subject  the  attention 
which  it  deserved.  The  narrative  you  refer  to — all  of 
which  is  strictly  true — would  never  have  been  written  at 
all  but  for  Aaron  Lewis.  He  wrote  out  and  handed  me 
the  history  of  his  trip,  which  was  certainly  full  of  thrill- 
ing experiences,  and  I  added  to  it  my  own  recollections. 
Lewis  was  one  of  nature's  noblemen.  While  not  a  cul- 
tured man,  as  we  understand  that  term,  he  was  by  no 
means  ignorant.  *  *  *  He  is  entitled  to  all  the  credit 
for  that  publication. 

"The  population  of  Arkansas  at  that  time  was  very 
small,  and  the  mail  facilities  were  crude,  meagre  and 


34  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

untrustworthy.  The  subscribers  to  the  Advocate  did  not 
exceed  one  thousand,  all  told,  and  the  readers  of  the 
narrative  were  consequently  confined  to  a  limited  num- 
ber. 

"At  the  time  it  appeared,  Washington  Irving  had 
given  to  the  public  his  'Tour  in  the  Prairie,'  and  was 
then  engaged  in  editing  and  preparing  for  publication 
the  manuscript  of  Captain  Bonneville's  adventures  in 
the  West.  Consequently  the  narrative  of  Lewis  and  my- 
self attracted  very  little  attention.  I  would  be  glad  to 
see  it  polished  up  and  given  to  the  public  in  book  form. 
Suppose  you  undertake  it.  You  have  my  full  permission. 
Use  the  blue  pencil  as  you  please." 

"No  man  can  form  an  idea  of  the  prairie,"  says  the 
diary,  "from  anything  which  he  sees  to  the  east  of  the 
Cross  Timbers.  Broad,  level,  gray  and  barren,  the  im- 
mense desert  which  extends  thence  westward  almost  to 
the  shadow  of  the  mountains,  is  too  sublime  to  be 
imagined  by  the  narrow,  contracted,  undulating  plains 
seen  nearer  the  bounds  of  civilization. 

"Imagine  yourself,  kind  reader,  standing  on  a  plain 
to  which  your  eye  can  see  no  bounds.  Not  a  tree,  not  a 
bush,  not  a  shrub,  not  a  tall  weed  lifts  its  head  above 
the  barren  grandeur  of  the  desert;  not  a  stone  is  to  be 
seen  on  its  hard  beaten  surface;  no  indulation,  no  abrupt- 
ness, no  break  to  relieve  the  monotony;  nothing  save 
here  and  there  a  deep,  narrow  track  worn  into  the  gard1 
plain  by  the  constant  hoof  of  the  buffalo.  Imagine  then 
countless  herds  of  buffalo,  showing  their  unwieldy,  dark 

1.     Gravel,    obs. 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  35 

shapes  in  every  direction,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach, 
and  approaching  at  times  to  within  forty  steps  of  you; 
or  see  a  herd  of  wild  horses  feeding  in  the  distance,  or 
hurrying  away  from  the  hateful  smell  of  man,  with  their 
manes  floating,  and  a  tramping  like  thunder.  Imagine 
here  and  there  a  solitary  antelope,  or,  perhaps  a  whole 
herd,  fleeting  off  in  the  distance,  like  the  scattering  of 
white  clouds.  Imagine  bands  of  white,  snow-like  wolves 
prowling  about,  accompanied  by  little  grey  callotes,2  or 
prairie  wolves,  who  are  as  rapacious  and  as  noisy  as 
their  big  brethren.  Imagine,  also,  here  and  there  a 
lonely  tiger-cat,  lying  crouched  in  some  little  hollow, 
or  bounding  off  in  triumph,  bearing  a  luckless  prairie 
dog,  which  it  has  caught  straggling  about  at  a  distance 
from  his  hole. 

"If  to  all  this,  you  picture  a  band  of  Comanches, 
mounted  on  noble,  swift  horses,  with  their  long  lances, 
quivers  at  the  back,  their  bows,  perhaps,  with  guns,  and 
their  shields  ornamented  gaudily  with  feathers  and  red 
cloth.  If  you  imagine  them  hovering  about  in  the  prairie, 
chasing  the  buffalo,  or  attacking  an  enemy,  you  have 
an  image  of  the  prairie  such  as  no  book  ever  described 
adequately  to  me. 

"I  have  seen  the  prairie,"  continued  Pike,  "under  all 
its  diversities  and  in  all  its  appearances,  from  those 
which  I  have  described  to  the  uneven,  bushy  prairies 
which  lie  south  of  Red  River,  and  to  the  illimitable 
Staked  Prairies. 

2.    Coyotes. 


36  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

"I  have  seen  the  prairie  and  lived  in  it  in  summer 
and  in  winter.  I  have  seen  it  with  the  sun  rising  calmly 
from  its  breast,  like  a  sudden  fire  flushing  in  its  sky, 
with  quiet  and  sublime  beauty.  There  is  less  of  the 
gorgeous  and  grand  character,  however,  belonging  to 
them,  than  that  which  accompanies  the  rise  and  set  of 
the  sun  upon  the  ocean  or  upon  mountains;  but  there  is 
beauty  and  sublimity  enough  in  them  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion and  interest  the  mind.  *  *  *  We  may  speak 
of  the  incessant  motion  and  tumult  of  the  waves  of  the 
sea,  the  unbounded  greenness  and  dimness — the  lonely 
music  of  the  forests,  and  the  high  magnificence,  the 
precipitous  grandeur  and  the  summer  snow  of  the  glit- 
tering cones  of  the  mountains;  but  still,  the  prairie 
has  a  stronger  hold  upon  the  soul,  and  a  more  powerful, 
if  not  so  vivid,  an  impression  upon  the  feelings.  Its 
sublimity  arises  from  its  unbounded  extent,  its  barren 
monotony  and  desolation,  its  still,  unmoved,  calm,  stern, 
almost  self-conscious  grandeur,  its  strange  power  of 
deception,  its  want  of  echo,  and,  in  fine,  its  power  of 
throwing  a  man  back  upon  himself,  giving  him  a  feeling 
of  lone  helplessness,  strangely  mingled  at  the  same  time 
with  a  feeling  of  liberty  and  freedom  from  restraint.  It 
is  particularly  sublime,  as  you  draw  nigh  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  see  them  shot  up  in  the  west,  with  their 
lofty  tops  looking  like  white  clouds  resting  upon  their 
summits.  Nothing  ever  equalled  the  intense  feeling  of 
delight  with  which  I  first  saw  the  eternal  mountains 
marking  the  western  edge  of  the  desert." 


CHAPTER  V. 

HE  REACHES  FORT  SMITH,  WHERE  HE  BECOMES  A  SCHOOL 
TEACHER  AND  WRITES  POLITICAL  ARTICLES. 

Alight!  I  have  a  tale  to  tell 
That  will  profit  thee  to  hear — 

It  will  vibrate  in  thy  memory 
For  many  a  long,  long  year. 

We  have  followed  Pike  through  a  series  of  refresh- 
ing and  interesting  adventures,  and  seen  that,  instead  of 
wealth  and  fame  ending  the  expedition,  he  reaches  Fort 
Smith  sick  and  almost  penniless.  "Falstaff's  ragged  regi- 
ment was  nothing  to  us,"  he  aptly  stated,  when,  in  a 
bedraggled  condition,  he  arrived,  with  the  straggling 
companions  who  had  remained  with  him  to  the  end;  "I 
had  on  a  pair  of  leather  pantaloons,  scorched  and  wrin- 
kled by  the  fire,  and  full  of  grease;  an  old  grimy  jacket 
and  vest;  a  pair  of  huge  moccasins,  in  the  mending  of 
which  I  had  expended  all  my  skill  during  the  space  of 
two  months,  and  in  so  doing  had  disposed  upon  them 
a  whole  shot  pouch;  a  shirt  made  of  what  is  commonly 
called  counterpane,  which  had  not  been  washed  since  I 
left  Santa  Fe;  and,  to  crown  all,  my  beard  and  mus- 
tachios  had  never  been  trimmed  during  the  whole  trip." 

Such  a  Pike  hardly  suggested  collegiate  honors,  but 
only  because  the  force  within  is  hidden  too  deeply  from 


38  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

casual  observers  to  give  the  lie  to  the  shabbiness,  and 
to  announce  that  here  in  this  unkempt  human  is  develop- 
ing one  of  the  biggest  men  of  the  day. 

After  the  furs  and  other  products  of  the  expedition 
had  been  disposed  of,  he  chanced  to  make  some  acquaint- 
ances who  became  warm  and  useful  friends.  He  was 
invited  to  become  the  guest  of  Captain  John  Rogers,  of 
the  Seventh  Regiment  of  United  States  Infantry,  who 
was  stationed  there  and  who  owned  most  of  the  lands 
on  which  the  town  was  located.  He  remained  with  him 
several  weeks.  He  afterwards  spent  the  remainder  of 
the  winter  with  Captain  Francis  Al dredge,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river  from  Fort  Smith.  Then  he  visited  for 
a  time  Judge  James  Woodson  Bates,  a  distinguished 
character,  who  lived  on  a  plantation  on  Little  Piney 
River.  The  good  old  judge  cared  for  him  while  he  suf- 
fered from  a  fever,  which  resulted  from  the  exposures 
he  had  suffered,  and  became  so  much  attached  to  him 
that  he  offered  him  a  home  as  long  as  he  would  stay. 

His  reception  proved  that  he  was  recognized  as  a 
young  man  of  worth.  But  he  must  be  doing  something, 
and  he  secured  a  position  to  teach  school  near  Van  Buren, 
five  miles  north  of  Fort  Smith,  where  he  continued  in 
that  occupation  until  the  fall  of  1832. 

While  at  Fort  Smith,  Pike  also  met  Major  Elias  Rec- 
tor, an  eccentric  celebrity,  whom  he  immortalized  by 
the  composition  of  his  song,  "The  Fine  Arkansas  Gentle- 
man." This  song  describes  Rector  as  being  "a  mighty 
clever  gentleman  who  lives  extremely  well  in  the  Western 
part  of  Arkansas,  close  to  the  Indian  line,  where  he  gets 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  39 

drunk  once  a  week  on  whiskey,  and  immediately  sobers 
himself  completely  on  the  very  best  of  wine;"  and  the 
fourth  verse  reads: 

This  fine  Arkansas  gentleman  makes  several  hundred  bales, 
Unless  from  drought  or  worm,  a  bad  stand,  or  some  other  damned 

contingency,  his  crop  is  short  or  fails; 

And  when  it's  picked  and  ginned  and  baled,  he  puts  it  on  a  boat, 
And  gets  aboard  himself  likewise,  and  charters  the  bar,  and  has 

a  devil  of  a  spree,  while  down  to  New  Orleans, 
He  and  his  cotton  float; 

This  fine  Arkansas  gentleman, 
Close  to  the  Choctaw  line. 

Our  hero  was  now  hidden  in  an  obscure  place  as  an 
humble  school  teacher — gone  back  to  his  former  occu- 
pation. How  flat  an  ending  for  one  who  seemed  to 
promise  so  much!  But  wait;  real  fire  will  not  be  easily 
quenched.  It  happened  that  a  memorable  political  cam- 
paign was  then  in  progress  in  Arkansas  Territory,  be- 
tween Robert  Crittenden,  a  Whig,  and  Ambrose  H.  Se- 
vier,  a  Democrat,  who  were  rival  candidates  for  the 
office  of  Delegate  to  Congress. 

The  school  master  must  get  excited  over  the  political 
aspect,  and,  unable  to  control  his  emotions  in  silence, 
he  takes  to  the  pen,  in  the  absence  of  any  kindred  spirits 
to  whom  to  explode.  "Sometime,  somewhere,  mine  own 
shall  come  to  me,"  may  not  have  been  in  his  mind  ex- 
actly, but  it  was  a  principle  that  showed  itself  before 
long  in  answer  to  the  lively  work  of  the  modest  but  bril- 
liant school  master.  Nothing  was  more  natural  than 
that  the  ardent  Pike  should  become  interested  in  this 
political  contest.  While  still  conducting  the  school,  he 


40  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

undertook  to  contribute  to  a  newspaper  called  the  "Ad- 
vocate," published  at  Little  Rock,  a  series  of  articles 
styled  "Intercepted  Letters,"  under  the  nom  de  plume  of 
"Casca."  These  letters  purported  to  have  been  written 
by  Mr.  Sevier  to  W.  E.  Woodruff  and  Chester  Ashley, 
with  their  replies.  The  letters  were  typical  of  a  period 
when  anonymous  political  cards  were  the  fashion.  They 
are  said  to  have  been  strikingly  characteristic  of  the 
persons  named  and  to  have  fully  portrayed  the  political 
opinions  and  bias  of  the  pretended  authors,  all  of  whom 
were  prominently  before  the  public.  They  were  writ- 
ten in  the  interest  of  the  brilliant  Crittenden,  whose 
cause  the  author  had  espoused,  along  with  his  Whig 
principles. 

The  letters  created  a  big  stir,  so  much  so  that  one 
unexpected  night  there  knocked  at  Pike's  door  two  ce- 
lebrities. They  had  been  impelled  to  dig  out  the  un- 
known and  to  make  an  effort  to  get  acquainted  with  him. 
Crittenden  had  ascertained  the  name  and  address  of  the 
bright  young  Whig,  and,  in  company  with  Judge  Jesse 
Turner,  went  to  see  him.  They  found  the  schoolmaster 
in  a  log  cabin,  on  the  Arkansas  river  bank.  He  was 
boarding  with  one  Abraham  Smith,  who  lived  in  a  sim- 
ilar structure.  Here  they  repaired  for  converse.  Turner 
was  28,  and  Crittenden  37  years  of  age.  The  trio  of 
brilliant  men  conversed  nearly  all  night  by  starlight  in 
the  wilderness,  and  gave  each  other  mutual  sparks  of 
inspiration.  Crittenden  said  to  Turner,  as  they  rode 
off  next  day,  "Pike  is  a  very  brilliant  young  man." 

Crittenden  accomplished  his  mission,  and  the  next 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  41 

day  the  mail  carrier  conveyed  a  letter  from  Bertrand, 
the  owner  of  the  Advocate,  to  Pike,  offering  him  a  seat 
on  the  editorial  tripod. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

HIS  REMOVAL  TO  LITTLE  ROCK,  WHERE  HE  BECOMES  SECRE- 
TARY OF  THE  TERRITORIAL  COUNCIL,  ASSUMES  EDI- 
TORIAL DUTIES  AND  READS  LAW. 

Work  then  bravely,  sternly,  gravely — 

Life  for  this  alone  is  given; 
What  is  right,  that  boldly  do, 

Frankly  speak  out  what  is  true, — 
Leaving  the  result  to  Heaven, 

Or  a  atque  labor  a! 

Pike  eagerly  accepted  Bertrand's  offer,  which  made 
of  the  modest  school  teacher  an  editor,  able  to  wield 
influence  over  many,  and  to  show  the  stuff  that  was  in 
him.  He  quickly  repaired  to  Little  Rock.  Here  he  en- 
gaged board  and  room  at  the  famous  Town  Tavern,  con- 
ducted by  Nicholas  Peay,  and  owned  by  Chester  Ashley, 
afterwards  United  States  Senator  from  Arkansas. 

The  Territorial  Legislature  was  in  session  when  he 
arrived  in  Little  Rock,  and  a  few  days  afterward,  through 
the  influence  of  his  newly  acquired  friends,  headed  by 
Bertrand,  who  was  not  only  an  editor  but  an  astute  poli- 
tician, he  was  elected  secretary  of  the  Senate,  or  Council, 
as  the  upper  body  was  then  called.  He  served  in  that 
capacity  until  the  close  of  the  stormy  session,  during 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  43 

which  seven  new  counties  were  created  and  much  con- 
structive legislation  accomplished. 

He  did,  however,  actively  begin  newspaper  work  at 
the  Advocate  office  immediately  after  his  arrival,  and 
when  the  Legislature  adjourned  he  gave  more  time  to 
those  duties.  He  wrote  editorials  which  soon  won  him 
high  rank  as  an  editor  and  citizen;  and,  at  the  same  time, 
he  learned  to  set  type,  while  in  spare  moments  he  read 
law. 

His  entry  into  stirring  newspaper  and  political  life 
was  accomplished  in  exciting  times.  Besides  being  a 
busy  legislative  and  political  year,  the  state  suffered 
from  disastrous  overflows  of  its  rivers. 

The  Advocate  was  more  or  less  of  a  political  organ. 
It  continued  to  uphold  the  political  fortunes  of  Robert 
Crittenden.  Indeed,  the  paper  had  been  established 
largely  in  the  interest  of  this  ambitious  man,  which  in  a 
measure  accounted  for  Pike's  easy  entry  into  a  fortunate 
legislative  connection. 

The  Arkansas  Gazette,  an  older  paper,  was  the  organ 
of  the  Democratic  administration,  or  the  "Ins,"  and  the 
Advocate  represented  the  Whigs,  who  were  the  "Outs." 

In  December  of  the  same  year,  a  rupture  occurred 
between  Governor  Pope  and  the  Gazette,  occasioned  by 
the  publication  by  Pike  in  the  Advocate  of  articles  de- 
nunciatory of  the  governor,  on  account  of  the  alleged 
extravagant  prices  paid  for  public  printing,  the  contract 
for  which  was  held  by  W.  E.  Woodruff,  the  publisher 
of  the  Gazette.  The  paper  was  the  beneficiary  of  the 
contracts,  but  the  governor  had  to  take  the  blame  and 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 


the  criticism  in  the  matter.  Pike  used  the  deadly  par- 
allel column  to  show  the  prices  charged  by  the  Gazette 
and  also  those  at  which  the  work  could  have  been  done 
elsewhere  and  still  leave  a  profit.  The  governor  de- 
manded that  the  Gazette  defend  him  against  Pike's 
charges,  and  also  that  it  lower  its  charges  for  printing. 
It  refused  to  do  either,  and  the  rupture  resulted.  The 
public  printing  was  then  withdrawn  from  the  Gazette, 
and  let  to  the  lowest  bidder,  which  turned  out  to  be  the 
Advocate  office. 

Later  on,  Pike,  through  the  Advocate,  took  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  fight  for  statehood  for  Arkansas  and  a 
new  constitution  preparatory  to  its  admission  into  the 
Union.  A  convention  was  called,  which  adopted  the 
Constitution  of  1836,  and,  in  a  spirited  contest,  Pike  was 
elected  convention  printer  over  his  competitor,  W.  E. 
Woodruff,  the  powerful  editor  of  the  Gazette.  The  Ga- 
zette and  the  Advocate  were  both  in  favor  of  statehood, 
while  another  paper,  the  Times,  was  bitterly  opposing 
the  proposition,  on  the  ground  that  the  state  was  not 
prepared  to  assume  the  obligations  of  statehood. 

Governor  Fulton,  who  had  just  succeeded  Governor 
Pope,  had  issued  a  statement  to  the  effect  that  he  was 
opposed  to  the  admission  of  Arkansas  at  that  time,  for 
the  reason  that  it  had  not  obtained  the  proper  authority 
to  form  a  state  government,  but  that  whenever  Arkansas 
presented  to  Congress  a  constitution  made  under  the 
sanction  and  authority  of  the  people,  so  that  it  could 
be  admitted  without  the  imposition  of  unjust  or  unrea- 
sonable restrictions,  he  would  favor  it. 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  45 

The  governor  was  answered  by  Pike,  who  affirmed 
that  Congress  could  authorize  the  Territory  to  form  a 
constitution,  or  the  Territory  could  form  one  on  its  own 
initiative.  In  either  case,  if  the  constitution  was  repub- 
lican, and  the  Territory  had  the  requisite  number  of 
inhabitants  and  agreed  to  the  proper  restrictions,  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States  entitled  the  Territory  to 
admission.  He  criticized  the  governor  for  disregarding 
the  will  of  the  people  in  not  calling  a  special  session  of 
the  Legislature  to  accomplish  the  desired  purpose.  His 
position  was  sustained. 

In  commenting  on  the  Arkansas  Constitution  of  1836, 
Pike  said:  "On  Tuesday  last  the  Judiciary  report  came 
up  and  Judge  Lacy  moved  to  amend  it  by  changing  the 
term  of  office  for  supreme  judges  from  six  to  twelve 
years.  He  supported  the  amendment  in  a  speech  of  great 
ability,  in  which  sound  political  doctrines  were  com- 
bined with  a  bold  and  fervid  eloquence  of  language." 

This  amendment  was  carried,  but  on  a  later  day  dele- 
gate Grandison  Royston  secured  the  adoption  of  a  re- 
consideration and  a  reversal  of  the  action,  reducing  the 
tenure  of.  the  judges  from  twelve  to  eight  years. 

Pike  vigorously  criticized  the  action  thus:  "The 
judiciary  report  has  been  again  amended,  reducing  the 
terms  of  services  of  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court  to 
eight  years.  We  will  never  cease  to  lift  our  voice  against 
it.  Our  feeble  efforts  shall  never  be  remitted  to  place 
the  judiciary  on  a  basis  not  to  be  shaken  by  legislative 
favoritism  or  revenge  or  by  popular  fickleness." 


46  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

He  was  equally  as  out-spoken  in  endorsing  a  section 
of  the  Bill  of  Rights,  saying,  "Above  all,  infinitely  above 
all,  we  admire  that  clause  in  the  bill  of  rights  which 
provides  that  the  rights,  privileges  and  capacities  of  no 
man  shall  be  enlarged  or  diminished  on  account  of  his 
religion." 

While  the  convention  was  in  session,  Pike  charac- 
terized the  various  reports  as  bearing  the  impress  of  high 
talents  and  correct  views  of  government.  He  further 
predicted  that  the  constitution  would  be  inferior  to  none 
in  the  Union.  "We  congratulate  the  country  upon  the 
happy  termination  of  the  deliberations  of  the  conven- 
tion," he  wrote,  "for  it  has  done  honor  to  itself  and  to 
Arkansas." 

He  has  been  criticised  for  upholding  the  slavery 
provision  of  that  constitution  when  he  said,  "It  cannot 
certainly  be  supposed  that  it  is  for  the  interests  of  Arkan- 
sas to  become  a  free  state.  Surrounded,  as  it  would 
be,  by  Missouri,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas 
and  the  Indian  tribes — all  of  them  slave  countries — our 
state  would  become  the  land  of  refuge  for  runaways  and 
vagabonds."  "Then,"  wrote  the  caustic  Judge  Jesse 
Turner,  "descending  on  easy  wing  into  a  distinctly  heav- 
ier atmosphere,  this  gifted  son  of  Massachusetts  (Pike), 
on  whose  ambrosial  locks  the  tang  of  the  salt  sea  air  of 
her  rock-bound  coast  still  lingered,  added :  'Besides  this, 
our  revenue  is  to  be  raised  from,  and  our  rich  lands 
settled  by,  the  slaveholders.' " 

In  those  early  days,  when  the  state  was  in  the  mak- 
ing, there  were  many  momentous  questions  to  settle,  and 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  47 

the  files  of  the  Advocate,  under  Pike's  editorship,  show 
him  to  have  been  alive  to  every  interest  of  the  people 
and  an  able  champion  of  their  causes. 

Pike  printed  in  the  Advocate  the  Narrative  of  his 
Journey  in  the  Prairie,  running  through  eight  issues; 
some  of  his  poetry  also  first  saw  the  light  of  day  in  its 
columns. 

Editor  Pike  soon  acquired  a  half  interest  in  the  Ad- 
vocate with  Charles  E.  Rice.  He  subsequently  pur- 
chased the  remaining  interest  and  continued  for  some 
time  as  sole  editor  and  proprietor,  Mr.  Bertrand  having 
retired.  He  developed  a  capacity  for  brain  work  which 
made  him  famous,  and  it  is  said  that  he  never  slept 
more  than  five  hours  each  night,  which  was  his  practice 
for  forty  years.  Judge  John  Hallum,  a  great  friend  of 
Pike's,  liked  to  assert  that  his  capacity  for  intellectual 
work  surpassed  that  of  any  man  known  to  our  literature, 
and  for  forty  years  equalled  that  of  Bonaparte  when 
engaged  in  his  celebrated  campaigns. 

The  people  of  Little  Rock  appreciated  Pike  at  his 
true  worth.  His  field  of  usefulness  was  constantly  en- 
larging. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HIS  MARRIAGE. 

I  ken  a  charming  little  maid, 
As  sweet  and  winsome  as  a  fairy; 

I  wadna  ask  wi  wealth  to  wed, 
If  I  could  wed  wi9  thee,  Mary! 

I've  wandered  east,  I've  wandered  west, 
As  wanton  as  the  winds  that  vary; 

But  ne'er  was  I  sae  truly  blest 
As  when  I  met  wi9  thee,  Mary! 

Under  propitious  southern  skies,  amid  the  most  ro- 
mantic surroundings,  inhaling  the  perfume  of  the  rose, 
the  honeysuckle  and  the  magnolia,  with  the  mocking- 
bird singing  to  his  youthful  heart,  Pike  found  in  Little 
Rock  the  atmosphere  which  appealed  to  his  poetic  nature, 
and  which  developed  his  natural  powers. 

Let  the  reader  stand  before  the  striking  oil  painting 
of  him  which  adorns  one  of  the  walls  of  the  Arkansas 
History  Commission  at  the  State  Capitol.  He  will  be- 
come impressed  with  the  high-spirited  countenance,  the 
finely  arched  eye-brows,  the  thin,  intellectual  nose,  the 
full  mouth  that  found  zest  in  life  and  lived  to  the  full, 
and  the  wonderfully  worn  hair,  streaming  in  a  fine,  dark, 
luxurious  mass  down  to  his  neck,  with  a  height  and 
breadth  of  stature  which  drew  all  eyes  to  him,  no  matter 


CJ 

o 

PH 


H 


O 


q 


PH 

H 


CQ 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  49 

where  he  might  walk.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  in  a  place 
of  only  a  thousand  souls,  where  the  atmosphere  was  more 
like  that  of  one  big  family  than  a  town,  Pike  should  be 
a  most  important  personage,  though  modest  and  uncon- 
scious of  it. 

He  was  a  scholar  and  a  good  story-teller.  He  com- 
posed original  songs  which  were  set  to  music  and  used 
for  serenades.  It  is  therefore  not  surprising  that  he  was 
a  prime  favorite  with  the  fair  sex,  who  never  tired  of 
his  stories  of  life  in  the  far  west. 

In  a  few  months  after  locating  in  Little  Rock,  he  met 
at  the  home  of  a  friend,  Mary  Ann  Hamilton,  a  hand- 
some brunette,  who  caused  him  to  forget  all  other  women. 

There  was  a  passionate  wooing  then,  which  was  kept 
at  white  heat  by  the  dark-eyed  one.  He  was  soon  paying 
devoted  attention  to  her,  and  writing  poems  dedicated 
to  her,  which  he  slipped  into  her  hands  on  all  occasions 
while  she  was  in  Little  Rock,  and  sent  to  her  when  she 
returned  to  her  home  at  Arkansas  Post.  Only  one  of 
these  poems  has  been  preserved,  and  that  consists  of 
simple  verses,  entitled  "Mary."  In  these  lines  he  com- 
pares his  sweetheart  to  a  "little  purple  violet  that  hangs 
its  blushing  head  sae  weary, — with  brow  as  white  as  is 
the  mist  that  sleeps  on  heaven's  forehead  starry,  or  moun- 
tain snow  by  sunrise  kissed,  and  with  e'en  like  an  eagle," 
etc.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  others  of  his  published 
love  songs  and  lyrics  were  addressed  to  this  lady,  and 
that  she  was  in  his  thoughts  when  he  wrote  the  poem 
entitled  "Love:" 


50  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

I  am  the  soul  of  the  Universe, 

In  Nature's  pulse  I  beat; 
To  Doom  and  Death  I  am  a  curse, 

I  trample  them  under  my  feet. 

Creation's  every  voice  is  mine, 

I  breathe  in  its  every  tone; 
I  have  in  every  heart  a  shrine, 

A  consecrated  throne. 

The  whisper  that  sings  in  the  summer  leaves, 

The  hymn  of  the  starlit  brook, 
The  martin  that  nests  in  the  ivied  leaves, 

The  dove  in  his  shaded  nook. 

The  quivering  heart  of  the  blushing  flower, 

The  thick  Aeolian  grass, 
The  harmonies  of  the  summer  shower, 

The  south  wind's  soft,  sweet  mass. 

Mary  Ann  seems  to  have  held  back  from  the  ardent 
poet  lover  and  to  have  pretended  slight  admiration  for 
his  poetic  love-making.  But,  true  to  the  Pike  tempera- 
ment, the  lover  won  his  bride.  After  a  persistent  and 
interesting  courtship,  the  young  people  were  married, 
October  1,  1834,  by  Judge  James  H.  Lucas.  Even  the 
wedding  merry-making  was  typical  of  the  adventure- 
loving,  colorful  temperament  of  Albert  Pike.  The  set- 
ting for  the  wedding  at  the  old  plantation  home  of  the 
bride's  guardian,  Colonel  Terrence  Farrelly,  at  Arkansas 
Post,  was  ideal. 

The  country  gentry  for  miles  around  attended  the 
wedding,  and  some  negro  attendants,  dressed  in  their 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  51 

Sunday  clothes,  were  permitted  to  view  the  ceremony 
and  partake  of  their  master's  and  guest's  bounty.  The 
occasion  was  enlivened  by  a  plantation  orchestra,  and  an 
old,  white-haired  negro  leader,  puffed  up  with  the  im- 
portance of  his  connection  with  the  event,  and  perhaps 
enlivened  by  a  taste  of  the  groom's  best,  threw  all  his 
energies  into  his  elbows  as  he  played  on  his  fiddle  some 
of  the  old-time  airs. 

Captain  and  Mrs.  Pike  went  at  once  to  live  at  Little 
Rock.  The  season  was  a  gay  one.  The  intense  party 
feeling  of  the  Crittenden-Sevier  campaign  which  had  run 
high  during  the  preceding  year  had  subsided.  There 
were  many  bright  and  charming  people  living  at  the 
capital,  and  many  were  visiting  from  other  states. 

Soon  afterward  Pike  erected  a  handsome  residence, 
covering  a  block  of  ground,  near  Seventh  and  Rock 
streets,  in  Little  Rock,  in  which  he  and  his  family  lived 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  The  Pikes,  with  their  fine 
home,  were  in  the  centre  of  social  activities. 

The  Pike  home  afterward  became  the  property  of 
Colonel  John  G.  Fletcher,  a  prominent  banker  of  Little 
Rock,  and  his  son,  John  Gould  Fletcher,  the  "imagist" 
poet,  has  given  a  picture  of  this  house,  which  was  built 
in  the  style  of  the  old  south  and  "fronts  foursquare  the 
winds,  with  its  six  white  columns,"  in  his  "Goblins  and 
Pagodas."  It  is  to  this  day  one  of  the  finest  old  south- 
ern homes  to  be  found  in  the  state. 

Pike  was  now  settled  in  a  domestic  way,  but  he  had 
an  unsatisfied  ambition.  After  many  months'  service 
in  the  newspaper  business,  he  desired  to  retire  from  it, 


52  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

to  follow  the  profession  of  law.  He  had  been  reading 
law  and  observing  the  practice  of  lawyers  right  along. 
His  aspiration  in  this  line  constantly  increased,  due  to 
the  fact  that  his  own  mind  and  the  judgment  of  his 
friends  encouraged  him  to  believe  that  his  talents  lay  in 
that  direction.  His  wife  confirmed  his  judgment.  He 
saw  that  unusual  opportunities  in  a  legal  way  were  open 
to  him,  and  he  was  quick  to  grasp  the  hand  which  beck- 
oned him  to  follow  on  to  fame  and  fortune. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

HE  ENTERS  UPON  THE  PRACTICE  OF  LAW. 

Do  you  wish  in  the  courts  of  the  Country  to  sue 
For  the  right  or  estate  that's  another  man's  due? 
Your  lawyer  will  surely  remember  his  cue, 
When  his  palm  you  have  crossed  with  a  Dollar,  or  two, 
For  a  lawyer's  convinced  with  a  Dollar,  or  two; 
And  a  jury  set  right  with  a  Dollar,  or  two; 

And  though  justice  is  blind 

Yet  a  way  you  may  find 
To  open  her  eyes  with  a  Dollar,  or  two. 

Pike  was  ever  connected  with  the  unusual.  In  the 
winter  of  1836,  he  was  licensed  to  practice  law,  while 
still  performing  editorial  duties.  He  had  read  only  the 
first  volume  of  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  but  Judge 
Thomas  J.  Lacey,  of  the  Territorial  Supreme  Court,  who 
granted  the  license,  was  a  most  broad-minded  man  with 
a  keen  sense  of  humor.  He  remarked  in  explaining  his 
leniency,  that  it  was  not  like  issuing  a  medical  diploma; 
he  could  not  kill  anybody  by  practicing  law  on  him. 

Pike  soon  disposed  of  his  newspaper,  to  devote  his 
entire  energies  to  his  new  mistress.  He  characteristically 
remarked,  "I  owned  the  Advocate,  was  editor  and  type- 
setter, and  generally  useful  in  the  office,  for  two  years 
and  three  months,  and  then  sold  it  for  $1,500.  I  tried 


54  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

for  a  year  to  collect  the  accounts  due  the  office.  Then 
one  day,  weary  of  it  all,  put  the  books  in  the  stove,  where 
they  served  for  fuel.  I  had  no  further  trouble  with 
the  accounts." 

He  made  good  progress.  The  South  has  produced 
many  great  lawyers  and  orators,  and  Pike,  at  30  years 
of  age,  had  become  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  the 
early  days. 

His  industriousness  was  proverbial.  He  was  the  first 
Reporter  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Arkansas,  and  later  he 
was  elected  to  supervise  the  publication  of  the  Revised 
Statutes  of  the  State.  He  reported  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court  from  1836  to  1848,  comprising  five  vol- 
umes, numbered  from  1  to  5,  inclusive. 

Early  in  his  legal  career,  he  augmented  his  income 
by  publishing  the  Arkansas  Form  Book,  comprising  ap- 
proved forms  for  deeds,  mortgages  and  other  legal  forms 
for  lawyers  and  the  public.  A  second-hand  copy  of  this 
book  recently  brought  a  handsome  price  at  a  book  auc- 
tion. 

Soon  after  being  licensed,  he  was  offered  a  partner- 
ship by  William  Cummins,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  those 
days,  who  had  political  aspirations.  The  offer  was  ac- 
cepted, and  the  partnership  continued  for  a  number  of 
years. 

Pike  says:  "I  was  my  own  teacher  in  the  law;  soon 
began  to  get  together  a  law  library,  and,  in  1839,  I  began 
to  purchase  other  books,  and  to  read  them,  never  sleeping 
more  than  five  hours  at  night." 

Six  years  after  his  lawyer's  license  had  been  granted, 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  55 

he  was  elected  attorney,  and  later  he  was  also  made  a 
trustee  of  the  Real  Estate  Bank  of  Arkansas,  which  in- 
stitution had  a  very  prominent  part  in  the  financial  his- 
tory of  the  state.  He  held  the  connection  for  twelve 
years,  and  it  opened  up  a  large  and  lucrative  practice 
for  him.  The  bank  finally  collapsed,  but  it  was  through 
no  fault  of  his.  Its  financial  policy  had  been  unsound 
from  the  beginning. 

He  practiced  before  the  district  and  state  courts  at 
Little  Rock,  in  Chicot  county,  at  Helena,  and  in  Con  way, 
Johnson,  Pope  and  Crawford  counties;  and,  later,  in 
Saline,  Clark,  Hempstead,  Lafayette,  Dallas,  Ouachita 
and  Union  counties,  Arkansas. 

No  doubt  the  journeys  required  for  this  practice  ap- 
pealed thoroughly  to  his  adventurous  nature.  There  were 
no  railroads  or  stage  coach  lines  in  those  days,  and  he 
rode  the  circuit  on  horseback,  and  afterward  traveled 
in  a  buggy,  twice  a  year,  for  ten  years.  His  sorrel  horse, 
"Davy,"  was  as  well  known  on  the  circuit  as  himself. 
He  was  a  handsome  figure  on  horseback,  and  many  an 
old-timer  has  been  heard  to  speak  of  the  picture  which 
he  carried  in  his  mind's  eye  of  Pike  riding  by,  on  his 
way  to  court. 

In  those  primitive  days,  the  lawyers  were  subjected 
to  many  inconveniences,  sometimes  having  to  sleep  under 
a  friendly  tree,  with  their  saddle  bags  or  a  law  book  for 
a  pillow.  They  had  to  carry  their  food  with  them,  while 
traveling  over  corduroy  roads  to  and  from  distant  court 
houses.  Courts  were  held  in  all  kinds  of  buildings.  At 
one  time  Pike  and  eighteen  other  lawyers  slept  in  one 


56  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

room  in  the  court  house  building,  while  a  faro  game 
was  being  operated  under  the  court  room  every  night. 

Governor  Yell  once  narrowly  escaped  drowning  while 
crossing  the  Arkansas  on  the  ice,  in  company  with  Pike, 
Judge  Benjamin  Johnson  and  Absolom  Fowler,  while  on 
their  way  to  a  session  of  court  at  Van  Bur  en. 

On  another  occasion  Pike  and  Grandison  Royston  and 
others  stripped  to  swim  a  stream  in  southwest  Arkansas. 
After  dismounting  each  disciple  of  Blackstone  removed 
his  clothes  and  strapped  them  across  his  shoulders  to 
keep  them  above  water,  so  that  they  would  remain  dry. 

The  lawyers  often  rode  in  parties  over  the  mountains 
and  through  the  valleys,  and  they  enlivened  their  jour- 
neys with  stories  and  jokes.  Many  of  Pike's  stories  have 
been  handed  down. 

"Speaking  of  courts,"  he  said,  "reminds  me  of  some 
of  our  specimens  of  forensic  eloquence,  pathetic  in  the 
highest  degree.  A  limb  of  the  law  once  defended  a  client 
for  assault  and  battery  before  a  justice.  He  opened  his 
case  by  saying:  'May  it  please  your  honor,  I  appear 
before  you  this  day,  an  humble  advocate  of  the  people's 
rights,  to  redress  the  people's  wrongs.  Justice,  may  it 
please  your  honor,  justice  is  all  we  ask;  and  justice  is 
due,  from  the  tallest  and  highest  archangel  that  sits  upon 
the  throne  of  heaven,  to  the  meanest  and  most  insignifi- 
cant demon  that  broils  upon  the  coals  of  hell.  If  my 
client,  may  it  please  your  honor,  has  been  guilty  of  any 
offense  at  all,  he  has  been  guilty  of  the  littlest  and  most 
insignificient  offense  which  has  ever  been  committed 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  57 

from  the  time  when  the  morning  stars  sung  together 
with  joy,  shout  heavenly  muse.' 

"Another  member  of  the  bar  who  had  made  a  fortune 
by  his  practice,  once  in  a  murder  case  in  which  I  was 
engaged  with  him,  the  prisoner  having  committed  the 
act  while  he  was  intoxicated,  said  to  the  jury:  'Gentle- 
men, it  is  a  principle  congenial  with  the  creation  of  the 
world,  and  handed  down  from  prosperity,  that  drunken- 
ness always  goes  in  commiseration  of  damages' 

"At  another  time  this  same  lawyer  told  the  jury  that 
a  person  indicted  for  assault  and  battery  'beat  and  bruised 
the  boy  and  amalgamated  his  head.' '' 

"When  I  first  began  to  practice  law,"  Pike  said, 
"there  was  a  little,  dried-up  old  lawyer  named  Hall,  who 
knew  nothing  about  Latin,  but  was  particularly  fond  of 
picking  up  and  firing  scraps  of  it  at  the  jury.  Once 
when  he  was  trying  a  case  with  another  lawyer,  named 
Parrot,  he  fired  off  all  the  Latin  phrases  that  he  could 
think  of,  and  when  Parrot  replied  he  uttered  about  a 
half  dozen  sentences  in  Choctaw.  Hall  objected  to  the 
court  that  Parrot  should  not  use  language  that  no  one 
could  understand.  Parrott  replied  that  the  language 
which  he  had  used  was  Latin,  and  that  it  was  not  his 
fault  that  Hall  could  not  understand  it.  Hall  resented 
this,  and  proposed  to  leave  it  to  the  court.  The  judge 
decided  that  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge  Parrott's  Latin 
was  as  good  as  Hall's." 

Pike  practiced  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and 
the  District  and  Circuit  Courts  of  the  United  States,  at 


58  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

Little  Rock,  and  in  1846  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  he  claimed  to  have  been 
admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
simultaneously  with  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Hannibal 
Hamlin,  and  he  is  said  to  have  been  complimented  by 
Daniel  Webster,  who  heard  him  argue  a  case. 

He  represented  Henry  M.  Rector  in  his  fight  for  the 
ground  which  comprises  the  present  site  of  the  govern- 
ment reservation  at  Hot  Springs.  To  this  he  contended 
Rector  had  a  perfectly  good  title. 

He  represented  the  Choctaw  Indians  for  years,  in 
pressing  their  claims  against  the  United  States  for  com- 
pensation for  more  than  ten  million  acres  of  land  ceded 
to  them  in  Mississippi  by  the  government.  The  United 
States  Senate  was  constituted  an  umpire  between  the 
Choctaws  and  the  government,  and  in  March,  1859, 
awarded  the  Indians  $2,981,241.30,  out  of  which  Pike 
was  to  receive  a  fee  of  $200,000;  but,  although  many 
committees  of  both  the  Senate  and  the  House  had  urged 
the  payment  of  this  claim,  it  was  never  settled  in  full, 
although  Congress  allowed  a  compromise  settlement  after 
Pike's  death  and  paid  his  heirs  a  certain  small  sum  of 
money. 

Assisted  by  U.  M.  Rose,  he  and  his  partner,  Robert 
W.  Johnson,  former  United  States  and  Confederate  States 
Senator,  represented  the  State  of  Arkansas  at  Washing- 
ton City  during  the  Brooks-Baxter  war  in  Arkansas,  in 
urging  the  president  to  recognize  Baxter  and  oust  Brooks 
— in  which  they  were  successful. 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  59 

The  court  records  from  1836  to  1842  in  all  parts  of 
Arkansas  evidence  the  great  volume  and  high  character 
of  his  labors  in  the  legal  line. 

In  1852  he  transferred  for  a  short  time  his  practice 
from  Arkansas  to  Louisiana,  forming  a  partnership  with 
Hogan  Hunter  in  New  Orleans. 

In  regard  to  his  admission  to  the  bar  there,  it  was 
required  that  an  applicant  be  examined,  first  by  a  com- 
mittee, and  then  in  open  court.  The  examination  in  re- 
gard to  the  civil  law  consisted  of  one  or  two  questions  put 
by  a  venerable  old  French  jurist:  "What  works  have 
you  read  on  the  Roman  law?"  etc.  He  answered  that 
he  had  read  the  Pandects  and  made  a  translation  into 
English  of  the  first  book,  which  was  satisfactory  to  the 
examiner.  He  had  also,  he  said,  among  other  works,  read 
the  22  volumes  of  Durantor,  several  volumes  of  Pothier, 
the  five  volumes  of  Marcade,  which  is  considered  higher 
authority  than  all  the  courts  of  France.  The  examina- 
tion in  open  court  was  waived,  Mr.  Chief  Justice  Slidell 
saying :  "The  court  is  well  advised  in  regard  to  the  legal 
qualifications  of  Mr.  Pike,  and  he  knows  it  to  be  un- 
necessary to  examine  him;"  and  so  he  was  sworn  in. 

"I  have  had  but  three  compliments  paid  me  that  I 
value  more,"  says  General  Pike,  "one  was  in  1844,  when 
at  Louisville  the  ladies  sent  me  a  scarf  and  ring;  one 
at  Charleston  in  1855  at  the  Commercial  Convention, 
when  I  carried,  against  strong  opposition,  the  resolutions 
in  regard  to  a  Pacific  railroad;  and  the  third  was  at 
Washington,  about  1856,  when  Major  John  F.  Lee,  Judge- 
Advocate-General,  introduced  me  to  General  Scott,  who 


60  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

said,  "Captain  Pike!  Oh,  we  don't  consider  him  as  be- 
ing any  better  than  one  of  ourselves." 

When  Pike  purchased  the  Pandects  and  the  civil  law 
books  in  Latin  and  French  and  began  to  study  them,  he 
had  first  to  learn  both  languages  over  again,  for  in 
twenty  years  disuse  he  had  become  unable  to  read  either. 

He  stated  that  he  had  a  fondness  for  the  Roman  law, 
which  he  never  lost,  and  that  when  he  went  to  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.,  in  1868,  to  reside,  he  commenced  and,  with 
the  labor  of  several  years,  completed  the  work  of  trans- 
lating all  the  Maxims  of  the  Roman  and  French  laws, 
with  the  comments  upon  them  of  the  French  courts  and 
the  text  writers,  and  of  the  Pandects.  This  work,  with 
others,  remains  in  manuscript  form,  in  the  Supreme 
Court  Library,  at  Washington  City. 

He  remained  in  the  practice  of  law  at  New  Orleans 
for  three  years,  and  left  there  because  Indian  claims 
which  he  was  prosecuting  required  him  to  be  in  Wash- 
ington City  the  whole  of  the  winter  of  1855-56,  after 
which  he  resumed  his  practice  in  Arkansas,  and  contin- 
ued to  live  there  until  the  Civil  War  broke  into  his  plans, 
as  was  the  case  with  many. 

He  relinquished  the  active  practice  of  law  about  1879, 
and  after  that  appeared  in  the  courts  only  by  his  briefs 
and  pleadings  in  writing. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HE    WAS   A   GREAT    ORATOR,    AND    HIS    UNOFFICIAL   PUBLIC 

SERVICES  WERE  NUMEROUS,  BUT  HE  HAD  A  DISTASTE 

FOR  PUBLIC  OFFICE. 

OUT  shallop,  long  with  tempest  tried, 

Floats  calmly  down  life's  tranquil  tide; 

Blue  skies  are  laughing  overhead, 

The  river  sparkles  in  its  bed; 

The  sunbeams  from  the  waters  glancing, 

On  the  small  waves  round  our  vessel  dancing, 

Melt  and  dissolve  in  silver  foam, 

And  we,  in  our  frail  home, 
To  the  charmed  water-music  listen. 

With  all  his  other  accomplishments,  Pike  was  a  great 
orator,  who  crossed  swords  with  the  most  noted  lawyers 
and  statesmen  of  his  time.  His  unofficial  public  services 
were  considerable,  and,  having  the  courage  of  his  con- 
victions in  an  eminent  degree,  he  exercised  a  potent 
influence. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  committee  of  seven  dele- 
gates, in  1836,  to  write  an  address  to  the  people  of 
Arkansas  in  regard  to  the  matter  of  the  admission  of 
the  Territory  to  statehood;  and  the  address,  of  which 
he  is  considered  the  author,  is  a  striking  document,  con- 
cluding with  this  withering  thrust  at  those  who  argued 


62  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

against  statehood  on  account  of  probable  increased 
taxes: 

"Poor  indeed  is  the  plea  of  poverty,  when  liberty 
and  man's  dearest  rights  are  at  stake.  Craven-hearted 
and  unworthy  American  must  be  he  who  would  be  con- 
tented to  remain  a  bondman  and  a  hewer  of  wood  to 
escape  paying  the  paltry  pittance  of  twice  his  present 
tax." 

He  participated  in  a  Whig  convention  at  Louisville 
in  1844,  and  made  a  speech  which  created  a  sensation. 

In  1847  he  threw  out  the  suggestion  of  a  Pacific  rail- 
road convention,  to  build  a  road  which  should  be  the 
Southern  Pacific.  In  regard  to  this,  he  said,  in  part: 
"At  my  suggestion,  the  legislature  of  Arkansas  invited 
the  Southern  States  to  send  delegates  to  Memphis,  to 
form  a  convention,  and  it  was  held  accordingly.  I  could 
not  attend,  and  William  M.  McPherson  of  Chicot  county 
(afterward  of  St.  Louis)  was  sent  as  a  delegate,  I  and 
others  paying  his  expenses.  The  next  year  another  meet- 
ing was  held  there,  which  I  attended,  and  then  others 
followed  at  Charleston,  New  Orleans  and  Savannah, 
which  I  attended,  representing  Louisiana  at  Savannah. 
At  the  latter  meeting  I  opposed  a  resolution  offered  in 
favor  of  the  renewal  of  the  slave  trade,  and  afterward 
declined  to  attend  the  meeting  at  Knoxville  because  that 
subject  had  been  agitated  and  the  resolution  was  likely 
to  be  offered  again.  After  that  I  was  invited  to  address 
the  legislature  at  Baton  Rouge,  and  obtained  there  the 
passage  of  a  charter  for  a  Pacific  railroad,  with  termini 
on  the  Pacific  at  San  Francisco  and  Guaymas." 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  63 

An  extract  from  the  lengthy  speech  which  he  de- 
livered before  the  Louisiana  legislature  will  be  interest- 
ing, not  only  on  account  of  his  eloquent  language  and 
the  logical  reasons  given  for  the  building  of  the  Southern 
Pacific  Railroad,  but  because  his  comments  evidence 
enthusiasm  for  the  South,  and  feeling  against  the  North 
which  is  somewhat  surprising: 

"Mr.  Speaker,  for  four  thousand  years  the  history 
of  nations  has  been,  to  a  great  extent,  the  history  of  a 
struggle  for  the  trade  of  the  East — of  the  Indies  and  of 
China.  It  was  that  trade,  carried  by  caravans  over  the 
desert,  that  enriched  Egypt,  and  enabled  her  to  usurp 
the  title,  belonging  perhaps  to  Hindostan,  of  the  cradle 
of  civilization,  and  to  build  up  a  magnificent  empire  on 
the  banks  of  the  Nile.  It  was  that  trade  which  created 
Tyre  and  Sidon,  and  made  Carthage  the  rival  of  old 
Rome.  It  made  Venice,  in  her  lagoons,  the  queen  of 
the  world — Portugal,  with  her  narrow  limits,  one  of  the 
foremost  States  of  Europe;  Amsterdam,  the  proudest  and 
wealthiest  of  cities.  It  was  that  trade  which  led  Isabella 
of  Castile  to  become  the  protectress  of  the  Genoese  navi- 
gator, and  under  her  auspices  led  Christoval  Colon  to 
the  shores  of  Hispaniola,  and  succeeding  navigators  to 
those  of  the  Continent  of  America.  They  sought  a  new 
way  to  the  Indies — and  it  is  this,  and  not  the  mere  desire 
of  adding  new  provinces,  by  conquest,  to  her  mighty 
dominions,  that  has  carried  the  troops  of  England,  step 
by  step,  over  India  and  Burmah,  until  her  outposts  are 
face  to  face  with  those  of  Russia;  and  the  inexorable 
necessity  to  her  commercial  supremacy,  and  perhaps  to 


64  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

her  existence,  of  the  monopoly  of  the  Eastern  trade,  has 
forced  her  into  the  great  war  which  she  and  her  old 
hereditary  enemy  are  desperately  waging  against  the 
Muscovite. 

"Wherever  the  trade  of  the  East  flows,  there  will  flow 
wealth,  prosperity,  peace,  political  and  commercial  in- 
dependence and  supremacy.  As  it  first  built  up  Palmyra 
and  Baalbec,  Venice  and  Amsterdam;  so,  if  we  choose, 
it  will  build  up  great  cities  and  powerful  States  in  our 
own  South. 

"Only  a  very  few  years  ago,  when  at  the  first  Con- 
vention held  at  Memphis,  Mr.  Calhoun,  as  I  was  re- 
minded today,  said  that  in  time  the  Atlantic  would  be 
connected  by  railroad  with  the  Mississippi,  and  the  next 
generation  would  see  men  assembled  on  the  banks  of  the 
great  river  to  consult  about  building  an  iron  road  to 
the  Pacific.  The  next  generation  has  not  yet  come;  but 
we  are  here  tonight;  here,  where  only  a  few  days  since, 
and  almost  within  the  memory  of  some  of  us,  the  Indian 
hunter  made  his  camp  and  built  his  fire  upon  the  spot 
where  the  representatives  of  the  people  are  now  met  to 
legislate  for  a  great,  an  honored  and  honorable  State; 
here  we  have  met,  to  consult  upon  that  which  the  wisest 
statesmen  of  the  South  thought  might  be  done  in  another 
generation. 

"The  world's  route  to  the  Indies  is  through  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  Southern  States.  The  trade  is  ours,  if  we 
choose  to  take  it.  A  cargo  shipped  from  any  port  in 
Europe  for  India  or  China,  landed  in  New  York,  and 


o 

H 

GO 


q 


H 
Pti 


PQ 


o 

5 
w 

I    H 


w. 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  65 

thence  sent  by  railroad  to  San  Francisco,  must  then 
turn  southward,  and  keep  that  course  until  it  reaches 
the  Tropic  of  Cancer,  in  order  that  the  trade  winds  may 
carry  it  west  to  Canton.  Then  to  reach  the  Indian  ports, 
it  must  again  turn  southward,  and  pass  between  the  In- 
dian Islands  and  the  main  land,  until  it  reaches  the 
mouths  of  the  Indus  and  the  Ganges,  and  the  great  ports 
of  Hindostan.  Thus,  by  any  northern  route,  there  must 
be  a  vast  divergence  from  a  straight  line;  but  let  a  cargo 
come  from  Liverpool,  Marseilles,  Bordeaux  or  Lisbon 
to  Norfolk,  Charleston,  Savannah  or  New  Orleans,  and 
thence  by  railroad  running  near  El  Paso  to  San  Diego 
or  Guaymas,  and  it  finds  itself,  on  reaching  the  Pacific, 
on  the  direct  route  to  the  Indies. 

"Build  a  southern  railroad  on  this  route,  700  or  800 
miles  nearer  by  land  and  water,  as  it  will  make  the  dis- 
tance to  Canton  or  Calcutta,  on  a  road  built  at  far  less 
expense,  and  therefore,  able  to  carry  at  lower  freights, 
south  of  those  mighty  snows  that  would  bury  an  army  of 
cars  and  locomotives  in  a  winter,  and  no  Northern  or 
Central  railroad  could  by  any  possibility  compete  with 
it.  What  merchant,  anxious  to  take  advantage  of  the 
market,  having  a  cargo  worth  half  a  million  on  board 
an  India  ship,  would  allow  it,  when  in  the  latitude  of 
Guaymas  or  San  Diego,  to  turn  north  and  seek  San  Fran- 
cisco, sailing  three  or  four  hundred  miles  directly  out 
of  the  way,  in  order  to  find  a  railroad  conveyance  at 
least  as  many  miles  further  across  the  continent  than 
ours,  and  to  be  in  reaching  New  York  as  many  more 
miles  out  of  the  nearest  and  best  track  to  Liverpool? 


66  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

"The  struggle  for  the  trade  of  the  East  is  now  being 
transferred  to  this  continent.  On  our  north  the  friends 
of  the  Central  or  St.  Louis  route  are  active  and  energetic, 
led  by  a  gentleman,  to  whom,  whatever  his  follies,  none 
can  deny  the  merit  of  vast  energy  and  perseverance,  ex- 
tensive and  varied  information,  great  weight  of  charac- 
ter, and  a  strange  forwardness  and  singleness  of  pur- 
pose, perhaps  the  most  efficient  and  valuable  of  all  the 
qualifications  of  a  statesman.  He  declares  that  he  has 
the  Pacific  Railroad  in  his  pocket — that  capitalists  are 
ready  to  build  it,  and  that  they  ask  from  the  general  gov- 
ernment only  the  right  of  way.  The  friends  of  a  still 
more  northern  line  are  also  in  the  field;  and  in  the  great 
Northwest  new  States  are  rapidly  growing  up,  soon  to 
have  the  power  to  devote  the  means  of  the  general  gov- 
ernment to  building  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific,  on  North- 
ern, or,  as  they  choose  to  call  it,  on  free  soil,  from  Chi- 
cago, Rock  Island,  Davenport,  or  some  point  still  further 
north. 

"On  our  south  a  contract  was,  on  the  23d  of  Novem- 
ber last,  executed  with  the  President  of  Mexico,  by  an 
American,  giving  a  company  the  exclusive  right  of  build- 
ing a  railroad  from  El  Paso  to  the  Pacific,  with  the  most 
extensive  and  valuable  privileges. 

"In  this  emergency,  what  is  the  South  to  do?  Are 
we  to  sit  still  and  fold  our  arms,  and  see  great  channels 
cut  to  the  north  and  south  of  us,  through  which  the  trade 
of  the  East  shall  flow  past  us,  to  impoverish  and  not  to 
enrich  us?  I  do  not  think  that  the  South  ought  to  con- 
sent that  the  general  government  shall  ever  build  and 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  67 

own  any  Pacific  Railroad.  There  is  centralization  of 
power,  and  increase  of  patronage  enough,  without  that. 
The  legitimate  powers  of  government  are  enough  to  be 
possessed  by  Congress  and  the  President.  Nor  do  I  think 
that  it  ever  ought  to  be  allowed  that  this  vast  road  should 
be  owned  by  any  company  of  Northern  or  foreign  capi- 
talists, chartered  by  a  Northern  State.  Southern  energy 
and  Southern  men  should  build  the  road.  It  ought,  as  I 
think,  to  be  built  and  owned  by  the  Southern  States,  its 
concerns  managed  by  the  Southern  States,  and  its  profits 
enrich  their  treasuries.  But  that,  I  admit,  is  imprac- 
ticable. The  charter,  therefore,  proposes  to  incorporate 
the  Southern  States  with  such  cities,  corporations  and 
individuals  as  may  desire  to  subscribe  for  stock.  Should 
part,  or  even  all  of  the  States  decline,  as  all  will  not, 
should  no  cities  unite  in  the  plan,  this  will  not  interfere 
with  the  operation  of  the  charter.  Provision  is  made 
for  that. 

"I  like  the  spirit  of  the  resolutions  adopted  some- 
where in  Massachusetts:  'Resolved,  first,  That  the  road 
can  be  built;  Resolved,  second,  That  it  ought  to  be  built; 
Resolved,  third,  That  it  shall  be  built.'  I  would  have 
the  South  ask  but  one  question:  whether  the  road  is 
necessary.  If  it  is,  it  can  be  built. 

"It  is  not  only  necessary,  but  indispensable,  for  three 
reasons.  First,  to  give  us  the  trade  of  the  East;  second, 
to  unite  us  with  California,  which,  without  it,  will  soon 
ally  itself  indissolubly  with  the  North,  or  frame  an  inde- 
pendent government  for  itself;  and  third,  it  is  a  condi- 
tion of  the  welfare,  the  peace,  the  prosperity,  the  se- 


68  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

curity  and  the  very  existence  of  the  South. 

"Upon  the  two  first  reasons  I  need  not  weary  you 
by  enlarging.  It  is  no  longer  necessary  to  argue  in 
regard  to  them.  It  is  a  foregone  conclusion,  to  which 
the  whole  people  of  the  United  States  has  arrived,  that 
a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  must  be  built. 

"But  the  third  reason  addresses  itself  more  particu- 
larly to  every  patriot  and  statesman  of  the  South.  We 
cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  the  dangers  that  menace  us;  or 
if  we  do,  the  lion  will  still  be  in  our  path,  close  our 
eyes  as  we  may.  We  are  like  Ishmael,  in  one  respect 
at  least,  that  the  hand  of  every  other  nation  is  against 
us.  Slavery  is  regarded  everywhere  else  as  a  crime 
against  which  all  the  world  may  wage  war.  We  are  like 
an  entrenched  army  in  the  enemy's  country.  Batteries, 
masked  if  you  please,  are  mounted  with  their  full  arma- 
ment of  guns,  are  thrown  up  against  us  on  every  side; 
the  artillerists  are  at  their  posts,  and  their  matches  are 
lighted.  If  we  would  be  safe  and  secure,  we  must  de- 
velop our  resources,  increase  our  power,  and  grasp  the 
commerce  of  the  East. 

"We  cannot  deceive  ourselves,  struggle  to  do  so  as  we 
may,  in  regard  to  the  feeling  against  us  in  the  Northern 
States.  That  feeling  is  one  of  hostility  to  our  political 
and  commercial  advancement  and  prosperity.  We  are 
not  to  be  allowed  to  associate  with  ourselves  any  more 
slave  States;  we  are  to  have  no  road  to  the  Pacific  by 
the  aid  of  the  general  government.  The  area  of  slavery 
is  not  to  be  extended.  When  the  Gadsden  treaty  was 
before  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  Northern  Sena- 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  69 

tors  broadly  placed  their  opposition  to  it  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  meant  to  give  the  Southern  States  a  railroad 
route  to  the  Pacific.  The  treaty  was  at  first  rejected, 
and  for  that  reason;  and  that  produced  the  resolutions 
of  the  Charleston  Convention,  as  I  have  read  them  to 
you. 

"Why,  sir,  what  need  to  go  about  to  seek  for  examples 
of  Northern  feeling?  It  has  lately  happened  that  mis- 
sionaries, commissioned,  as  they  claimed,  by  the  Divinity 
himself,  to  preach  the  Christian  Gospel  among  the 
heathen,  have  thought  it  their  duty  to  withdraw  from 
among  the  Choctaw  Indians  upon  our  frontier,  and  leave 
them  to  relapse,  if  they  choose,  back  into  heathenism 
again,  because  they  insist  upon  holding  slaves,  and  not 
allowing  them  to  be  tampered  with  and  misled  by  their 
spiritual  teachers.  What  could  more  strongly  illustrate 
the  feeling  of  the  North? 

"There  is  a  more  laudable  feeling  also  operating 
against  us.  We  all  love  our  common  country.  We  love 
its  Constitution,  the  Union  and  the  flag  of  the  United 
States.  But  commercial  communities  and  legislative 
bodies  are  governed  far  more  by  considerations  of  sec- 
tional and  local  interest,  than  of  a  broad  and  catholic 
patriotism.  We  must  not  expect  great  commercial  cities 
to  aid  in  bringing  about  measures  that  shall  divert  the 
commerce  of  the  world  from  them,  by  turning  it  into  new 
channels,  and  build  up  other  cities  at  their  expense.  It 
is  not  in  human  nature  to  do  that  which  shall  benefit 
another  and  injure  one's  self. 

"Accordingly,  we  see  that  we  are  not  to  have  a  South- 


70  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

ern  Pacific  Railroad  by  Northern  votes  in  Congress.  He 
who  expects  it  is  almost  a  lunatic." 

In  a  stirring  speech  delivered  at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  in 
November,  1849,  in  making  an  appeal  for  action  by 
the  South,  he  said,  among  other  things: 

"Edmond  Burke  told  the  House  of  Commons,  when 
the  thirteen  colonies  claimed  that  taxation  and  repre- 
sentation should  go  together,  that  it  was  an  undeniable 
axiom  that  countries  three  thousand  miles  apart  could 
not  exist  under  one  government — where  the  legislature 
of  one  portion  had  to  travel  that  distance  to  make  laws, 
and  the  fact  that  such  laws  had  been  passed  could  not 
be  known  until  three  months  after  their  passage.  What 
was  true  then  is  true  now.  It  is  only  by  bringing  Cali- 
fornia and  Oregon  within  a  few  days'  journey  of  Wash- 
ington that  we  can  retain  them  as  a  part  of  the  Union; 
and,  unless  this  road  is  built,  we  will  have  expended 
our  blood  and  treasure  for  the  suicidal  purpose  of  creat- 
ing a  new  and  independent  empire  on  the  Pacific.  It  is 
the  first  and  highest  duty  of  the  government  to  stretch 
an  iron  arm  across  the  continent,  which,  with  its  fibres 
radiating  at  the  shoulder  from  different  points  on  the 
Atlantic,  shall  fasten  a  tenacious  grasp  on  those  great 
western  possessions,  and  grapple  them  to  us,  as  with 
hooks  of  steel.  Such  a  road  will  be  like  a  great  artery, 
through  which  the  pulsation  of  the  national  heart  will 
send  the  life  blood  to  the  extremities  of  the  Union." 

A  writer  speaks  of  his  taking  part  in  the  commercial 
convention  of  the  Southern  and  Western  states  which 
was  held  at  Charleston  in  1854.  Fifteen  states  were  rep- 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  71 

resented,  and  there  were  such  delegates  as  William  Daw- 
son,  Matthew  F.  Maury,  Clement  C.  Clay,  James  C.  Jones 
and  John  H.  Reagan.  Pike  introduced  a  series  of  resolu- 
tions, favoring  a  confederacy  of  the  Southern  states  to 
build  the  Southern  Pacific  railway,  and  made  a  power- 
ful speech  supporting  them. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  principals  of  the  Tulip 
Female  Seminary  and  the  Arkansas  Military  Academy, 
institutions  chartered  by  the  state,  once  a  year,  at  the 
close  of  their  examinations,  to  invite  one  of  the  leading 
men  of  the  state  jointly  to  address  the  pupils  of  these 
institutions.  On  June  4,  1852,  Albert  Pike  delivered 
such  an  address,  on  the  subject  of  education.  On  this 
occasion  he  was  greeted  by  a  vast  assemblage  of  beauty 
and  talent,  including  the  students  and  cadets.  His  ad- 
dress is  remembered  as  having  been  a  masterpiece.  In 
fervid  words  he  encouraged  the  young  man  to  strive  to 
become  a  well-educated  gentleman — "in  the  councils  of 
his  country,  a  statesman;  in  war,  an  accomplished  sol- 
dier; at  the  law,  not  unworthy  to  have  his  name  asso- 
ciated with  those  of  Story  and  Kent;  as  a  writer,  fit  to  be 
read  with  pleasure  and  profit  by  men  of  learning  and 
ability;  and  as  a  speaker,  to  be  heard  with  respect  by 
the  intellectual  and  refined."  And  with  great  earnest- 
ness he  counselled  that  the  maiden  "be  taught  to  bend 
her  bright  eyes  on  her  books,  and  pale  her  rosy  cheeks 
with  study,  that  she  may  be  entitled  to  wear  the  graceful 
appellation  of  lady,  which,  if  rudely  ignorant,  she  can- 
not do;  to  appear  well  in  company,  and  to  be  able  to 
converse  intelligently,  to  win  the  affection  and  esteem  of 


72  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

r~ 

an  intellectual  man,  which  all  young  ladiesj  I  hope,  de- 
sire to  do ;  to  make  her  own  future  fireside  and  domestic 
home  cheerful  and  pleasant;  or  to  win  fame  and  dis- 
tinction, as  dear  to  them  as  to  us  of  the  ruder  sex." 

All  through  his  writings  and  in  all  his  speeches  he 
shows  great  deference  for  women.  "It  is  the  enviable 
peculiarity  of  woman,"  he  said,  "that,  seeing  far  ahead 
the  object  to  be  attained,  and  judging  by  an  unerring 
instinct  that  it  is  good,  proper  and  laudable,  if  indeed 
it  is  so,  she  resolutely  closes  her  eyes  against  all  hin- 
drances and  obstacles,  determines  that  the  thing  shall  be 
done,  because  it  is  right,  and  because  what  is  right  not 
only  can  but  must  be  done;  and  that  all  impediments 
and  barriers  and  barricades,  whether  built  by  this  or 
the  other  enemy,  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  question; 
and  so  she  succeeds  where  man,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten, 
would  fail." 

Pike  proved  by  his  earnest  efforts  to  obtain  an  edu- 
cation how  sincerely  he  appreciated  learning.  He  was 
always  advocating  the  cause  of  education  in  Arkansas, 
and  he  said,  "No  doubt  ignorance  succeeds  better  in  our 
state  than  elsewhere  in  the  world.  But,"  he  continued, 
"it  will  not  always  be  so.  I  am  aware  that  there  is  a 
species  of  oratory,  needing  no  study  and  as  little  knowl- 
edge, which  produces  great  effect  on  the  popular  mind, 
and  is  potent  in  obtaining  office  and  power;  and  this 
bastard  species  will  often,  with  the  illiterate,  prevail 
against  real  knowledge  and  genuine  oratory,  and  help 
place  the  kite  in  the  eagle's  nest." 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  73 

Before  a  railroad  convention  at  Little  Rock,  on  July 
7,  1852,  he  warmly  advocated  that  encouragement  be 
given  to  the  building  of  a  road  which  was  under  dis- 
cussion, and,  in  a  peroration,  warned  objectors  that  they 
were  as  unreasonable  as  one  "who  stood  in  an  open  plain 
where  the  clouds  were  marshalling  their  armies  in  the 
sky  above  him,  bared  his  head  to  the  storm,  challenged 
the  quick  lightning  to  a  contest  of  strength,  and  expected 
to  stand  erect  and  unmoved  upon  his  feet,  after  God's 
thunderbolt  had  struck  him  full  upon  the  naked  fore- 
head." 

Arkansas'  first  railroad  was  yet  to  be  built,  and  in 
this  speech  he  was  advocating,  with  all  the  might  of  his 
great  brain,  that  encouragement  be  given  through  the 
legislature  to  a  proposed  road  from  Memphis  to  Texar- 
kana,  which  was  to  be  called  the  Central  Railroad. 
Realizing  the  disadvantages  under  which  the  people 
labored  for  want  of  cheap  and  speedy  means  of  reaching 
the  markets,  and  the  small  value  of  the  lands  on  account 
of  their  inaccessibility,  he  said,  "We  of  Arkansas  must 
adopt  as  our  motto,  "Emigration,  starvation  or  rail- 
roads." 

It  seems  strange  that  there  should  have  been  opposi- 
tion to  the  building  of  the  first  railroad  into  Arkansas, 
but  it  is  a  fact  that  there  was.  What  Pike  complained 
of  mostly,  however,  was  inertia.  "Inertia,"  said  he,  "is 
the  most  effective  species  of  opposition.  If  your  an- 
tagonist will  grow  excited,  enthusiastic,  zealous,  even 
angry  and  vociferous,  you  have  some  hope.  A  slight 
thing  will  change  the  direction  of  a  body  in  rapid  mo- 


74  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

tion.  But  how  to  set  going  in  the  right  direction  a  pon- 
derous mass  that  sits  squatted  there,  inert,  helpless,  log- 
like,  needing  a  vast  lever  to  set  it  in  motion  at  all,  in 
any  direction  whatever!" 

On  the  occasion  of  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone  of 
the  "Masonic  and  Odd  Fellows'  Hall  of  Little  Rock," 
he  delivered  a  great  oration  to  a  large  assemblage,  from 
which  the  following  quotation  is  made: 

"We  rear  no  mausoleum  to  the  imperial  memory  of 
some  pitiless  conqueror  to  whose  crouching  subjects  the 
glory  of  the  monarch  was  the  sole  compensation  for 
rivers  of  plebeian  blood  shed  on  the  field  of  battle,  for 
thousands  of  homes  made  desolate,  widows  bereaved,  and 
children  left  fatherless  and  brotherless,  to  starve;  no 
obelisk  to  commemorate  the  conquest  of  Napoleon  or 
other  remorseless  butcher  of  the  human  race.  We  have 
laid  the  cornerstone  of  no  huge  pyramid,  to  tell  suc- 
ceeding ages  a  melancholy  tale  of  empty  and  vainglorious 
pride,  of  the  toil  and  lives  of  millions  wasted,  and  the 
treasures  of  an  empire  squandered,  to  gratify  a  selfish 
despot ;  no  Sclovac  tyrant  has  brought  us  hither  and  from 
remote  distances  and  humble  homes,  no  more  to  be  seen 
forever,  to  build  a  rude  empire's  splendid  capital  amid 
the  marshes,  and  dispute  dominion  with  the  ocean.  We 
build  no  magnificient  baronial  castle,  with  tower  and 
massive  battlements,  whose  shattered  ruins  frowning  in 
after  ages  from  crag  and  cliff  on  happy  valleys,  like 
those  that  startle  the  dreamy  voyager  who  for  the  first 
time  follows  up  the  lonely  Rhine,  shall  recount  in  the 
still  moonlight  sad  stories  of  lawless  power,  rude  license, 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  75 

brutal  rage  and  unprotected  misery;  and  in  whose  gaping 
dungeons  shall  flock,  like  ghosts,  grim  remembrances  of 
chains  eating  into  limbs,  of  torture  and  starvation  and 
horrid  deaths;  no,  nor  pagan  temple,  sacred  to  supersti- 
tion and  her  gods,  rich  with  Corinthian  columns,  and  all 
the  beauty  of  frieze  and  pediment  and  architrave;  nor 
gorgeous  cathedral  to  be  built  with  money  wrung  from 
the  hard  hands  of  the  toiling  millions,  and  aggregated 
slowly  and  painfully  by  diminishing  the  miserable  pit- 
tance of  food  earned  by  despairing  poverty  for  the  hun- 
gry children.  We  do  not  prepare  to  contaminate  this 
genial  atmosphere  by  the  presence  of  a  bastile,  to  be 
created  with  the  people's  toil,  its  stones  cemented  with 
the  people's  tears,  to  serve  for  ages  as  a  prison,  and  a 
place  of  torture  for  all  who  dare  to  dream  of  liberty 
and  free  thought;  and  finally  to  be  leveled  with  the 
ground  before  the  storm  and  lightning  of  the  people's 
fury  and  despair.  We  build  for  no  prince,  no  potentate, 
no  tyrant.  We  rear  no  memento  of  wars  or  battles  past; 
no  citadel  for  power  or  principality  in  wars  to  come. 

"But,  here  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
on  the  free  soil  of  a  great  republic,  under  propitious 
skies,  and  by  the  voluntary  contributions  of  two  great 
philanthropic  orders,  we  have  undertaken  to  build  up 
a  Hall,  devoted  to  the  good  purpose  and  worthy  ends  of 
Masonry  and  Odd  Fellowship,  consecrated  to  the  perpetual 
inculcation  of  Friendship,  Love  and  Truth,  the  diffusion 
of  the  purposes  of  Benevolence  and  Charity,  the  pro- 
tection of  the  widow  and  the  fatherless,  the  relief  of 


76  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

the  worthy,  distressed  brothers,  and  the  teaching  of  the 
True,  and  the  Beautiful  and  the  Good." 

Pike  was  frequently  called  upon  to  make  literary 
addresses  and  deliver  orations  on  public  occasions.  His 
audiences  were  always  entranced  with  his  persuasive 
oratory  and  display  of  learning.  The  reading  of  some 
of  these  speeches,  which  have  been  preserved  in  books 
or  newspaper  files,  show  the  bent  of  his  mind  and  voice 
some  of  his  beliefs  on  the  great  questions  that  concern 
mankind. 

It  is  not  recorded  that  he  aligned  himself  with  any 
church,  but  he  said  that  he  believed  in  a  God,  a  Creator 
and  Preserver  of  the  Universe:  "and  if  the  Supreme 
Power  is  not  a  mind,  but  something  higher  than  a  mind; 
not  a  force,  but  something  higher  than  a  force;  not  a 
being  but  something  higher  than  a  being;  something 
for  which  we  have  neither  word  nor  idea;  yet  this  su- 
preme intelligence  and  power  has  implanted  in  the  hu- 
man mind  the  conviction,  needing  no  argument  to  create 
it  or  confirm  it,  that  the  intellectual  self  of  man  does 
not  cease  to  exist  when  the  vital  forces  leave  the  body 
cold  and  tenantless,  and  that  we  shall  see  again  after 
death,  and  as  we  saw  them  here,  the  loved  ones  who  have 
died;  and  because  this  conviction  has  been  planted  in 
us,  to  be  an  incentive  and  restraint,  to  be  our  consolation 
in  the  depths  of  sorrow  when  death  shall  desolate  our 
households,  to  exalt  us  in  our  esteem  and  make  us  capa- 
ble of  our  great  deeds,  to  repress  our  baser  impulses, 
to  cause  us  to  despise  death  and  desire  fame  after  death, 
to  make  something  besides  the  pleasures  of  sensuality 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  77 

and  the  goods  of  this  little  life  of  value  to  us,  therefore, 
it  is  true,  and  not  false,  for  the  Supreme  Intelligence 
hath  not  been  constrained  to  resort  to  a  lie  and  fraud 
to  compass  its  ends." 

It  was  within  the  lodge,  or  connected  with  its  work 
that  Pike  was  best  known,  and  exerted  his  greatest  in- 
fluence. He  spoke  in  terms  and  tone  that  touched  the 
heart,  and  could  lift  the  soul  from  the  depths  of  gloom 
to  the  heights  of  hope  and  joy.  So  sympathetic  was  his 
heart,  so  eloquent  his  tongue,  and  so  cultured  his  mind, 
that  he  never  failed  to  touch  responsive  chords  with  his 
hearers. 

The  sayings  of  Epictetus  or  Marcus  Aurelius  are  not 
more  wonderful  than  those  of  this  sage.  His  writings, 
conversations  and  speeches  abound  in  wisdom  and  his 
expressions  were  made  beautiful  by  the  imagery  of  his 
poetic  nature. 

He  once  said: — 

"The  soul  grows  as  truly  as  the  oak.  As  the  tree 
takes  the  carbon  of  the  air,  the  dew,  the  rain,  and  the 
light,  and  the  food  that  the  earth  supplies  to  its  roots, 
and  by  its  mysterious  chemistry  transmutes  them  into 
sap  and  fibre,  into  wood  and  leaf,  and  flower  and  fruit, 
and  color  and  perfume,  so  the  soul  imbibes  knowledge, 
and  by  a  divine  alchemy  changes  what  it  learns  into  its 
own  substance  and  grows  from  within  outwardly  with 
an  inherent  force  and  power  like  those  that  lie  hidden  in 
the  grain  of  wheat." 

"We  are  not  born  for  ourselves  alone,"  said  he,  "and 
our  country  claims  her  share,  and  our  friends  their  share 


78  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

of  us.  As  all  that  the  earth  produces  is  created  for  the 
use  of  man,  so  men  are  created  for  the  sake  of  men,  that 
they  may  mutually  do  good  to  one  another." 

I  rather  incline  to  think  that  Providence 
has  something  to  do  with  the  fate  and  fortunes  of  this 
great  nation,  and  that  its  orderings  in  this  matter,  as  in 
all  others,  are  wise  and  good." 

"To  my  limited  vision,  as  to  yours,  the  system  may 
appear  unjust,  as  do  all  the  sorrow  and  distress  and 
calamity  on  earth.  But  we  must  become  Atheists  if  we 
do  not  believe  that  He  is  just  and  wise,  and  that  in  the 
great  phenomena  of  the  universe  He  is  working  out  a 
vast  and  beneficient  purpose.  The  history  of  the  world 
is  full  of  evidence  of  this  great  truth." 

To  show  his  detestation  of  hypocrisy,  he  said: 

"No  lady  or  gentleman,  no  upright  man  or  woman, 
ever  tells  a  lie.  Their  word  should  in  any  emergency 
be  as  sacred  as  that  of  a  Christian  knight  in  the  days  of 
chivalry,  when  by  a  just  law  for  a  falsehood  the  golden 
spurs  were  hacked  with  a  cleaver  from  the  liars'  heels." 

He  was  not  a  politician,  although  possessing  such  a 
charming  personality,  so  many  qualities  of  statesman- 
ship, and  the  oratorical  ability  which  would  have  made 
him  a  popular  idol  before  the  masses.  Although  he 
served  as  a  Supreme  Court  Judge,  by  appointment,  he 
never  appears  to  have  been  a  candidate  for  an  office. 
He  stated  that  he  had  an  utter  contempt  for  all  public 
office.  The  following  quotation  from  one  of  his  poems 
expresses  his  feelings  after  he  had  stifled  the  call  of  the 
siren  who  would  lure  him  to  offer  for  public  preferment: 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  79 

Cry  on!   full  well  I  know  thy  voice, 

For  often  it  has  called  to  me, 
Stirring  my  passions  with  the  noise, 

As  tempests  stir  the  hungering  sea. 

Cry  on,  ambition;   'tis  in  vain! 

Thine  influence  Tiath  passed  away, 
And  mighty  though  thou  art,  again 

Thou  canst  not  bend  me  to  thy  sway. 

He  was  large-minded,  chivalrous,  munificient,  and  at 
the  same  time  sensitive  and  reserved  toward  strangers. 
Being  a  true  poet,  such  sensitiveness  was  to  be  expected. 
A  genuine  poet  simply  could  not  be  a  successful  poli- 
tician. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  his  whig  proclivities  put  him  on 
the  wrong  side  of  the  political  fence  to  get  public  office. 
He  said  of  himself:  "As  a  Henry  Clay  whig  of  a  pro- 
nounced type,  I  detested  what  In  my  set  was  called  Jef- 
fersonian  heresies,  aggravated  by  Jacksonian  degenera- 
tion." As  now  in  Arkansas,  all  the  elective  offices  in 
his  day  were  filled  by  adherents  of  the  Democratic  party. 
It  is  said  that  he  could  have  held  political  Arkansas  in 
the  hollow  of  his  hand  by  changing  over  to  the  Dem- 
ocratic party. 

Here  is  a  story  which  will  illustrate  the  contempt  in 
which  whigs  were  held  by  some  people  in  those  days : 

Two  rival  candidates  for  a  legislative  office  had 
agreed  to  avoid  personalities  in  their  canvass  for  votes. 
One  of  them  disregarded  his  promise  in  the  opinion  of 
the  other;  and  the  aggrieved  one  in  taking  his  competit- 
or to  task  for  it  recited  some  of  the  remarks  which  he  had 


80  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

heard,  and  said:  "Now,  you  know  that  these  statements 
are  untrue,  and  if  you  don't  retract  them,  I'll  be  dog- 
goned  if  I  don't  denounce  you  as  a  whig."  The  dire 
threat  is  supposed  to  have  made  the  guilty  party  good. 

When  the  whig  party  declined  in  1852,  and  the  Know- 
Nothing  party  sprang  up,  Pike  was  accused  by  the  Cath- 
olics of  being  the  chief  organizer  in  Arkansas  of  its  secret 
meetings.  This  party  elected  a  full  legislative  and  state 
ticket  in  1854,  and  Pike  wrote  a  great  many  articles  for 
the  newspapers  in  furtherance  of  its  objects,  some  of 
which  in  relation  to  the  Catholic  church,  were  replied 
to  by  Bishop  Byrne,  of  that  denomination. 

This  controversy  evidenced  the  fact  that  Pike's  hand 
had  not  lost  its  cunning  as  a  writer.  But  the  trend  of 
events  was  to  precipitate  him  into  new  adventures. 


CHAPTER  X. 

HE  TAKES  UP  ARMS  IN  THE  WAR  WITH  MEXICO.      HIS  PROSE 
AND  POETICAL  REFLECTIONS  ON  WAR. 

And  thus  on  Buena  Vista's  heights  a  long  day's  work 

was  done, 

And  thus  our  brave  old  general  another  battle  won. 
Still,  still  our  glorious  banner  waves,  unstained  by  flight 

or  shame, 
And  the  Mexicans  among  their  hills  still  tremble  at  our 

name. 
So,  honor  unto  those  that  stood!    Disgrace  to  those  that 

fled! 
And  everlasting  glory  unto  Buena  Vista's  dead! 

A  history  of  Pike's  life  could  be  compiled  from  his 
poetry.  His  connection  with  the  war  with  Mexico  in- 
spired him  to  write  the  poem  "Buena  Vista." 

His  adventuresome  spirit  seems  to  have  interested 
him  in  military  affairs  early  in  his  career,  for  in  1839 
or  1840,  he  organized  and  commanded  at  Little  Rock  a 
volunteer  company  of  artillery.  The  organization  con- 
tinued for  several  years,  drilling  usually  as  infantry,  but 
performing  local  artillery  service,  firing  salutes  on 
National  holidays,  the  inauguration  of  governors,  and 
the  like,  on  important  occasions.  Some  old  iron  guns 
which  had  been  in  storage  in  the  United  States  Arsenal 
at  Little  Rock  were  used  by  permission.  The  military 
laws  of  Arkansas  authorized  four  volunteer  company 


82  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

~  ~~~ 

organizations  in  each  county,  one  each  of  cavalry,  ar- 
tillery, infantry  and  riflemen,  and  his  was  the  first  com- 
pany formed  in  Pulaski  county. 

Early  in  1845,  the  air  became  surcharged  with  ex- 
citement on  account  of  the  threats  made  by  the  Republic 
of  Mexico  looking  to  the  recovery  of  Texas.  At  the  out- 
break of  hostilities,  Pike  recruited  a  company  of  cavalry, 
known  as  company  "E"  of  Arkansas,  which  he  com- 
manded as  captain,  and  in  which  he  served  in  Mexico 
with  distinction.  He  participated  in  the  celebrated  bat- 
tle of  Buena  Vista,  on  February  22-23,  1847,  in  the  regi- 
ment of  Archibald  Yell,  and  received  special  mention 
for  bravery  from  Generals  Wool  and  Taylor.  His  com- 
pany was  one  of  three  which  on  February  22  went  to  the 
relief  of  the  exhausted  Americans  who  had  been  holding 
the  Mexican  line  after  the  battle  which  was  precipitated 
when  Santa  Anna  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  United 
States  troops,  and  which  checked  their  advance.  He  met 
there  Major  Robert  E.  Lee,  of  Virginia,  then  a  military 
engineer,  two  years  his  senior  in  age,  who  later  became 
commanding  general  of  the  Confederate  Army,  and  with 
whom  he  corresponded  after  the  Mexican  campaign. 

It  is  a  historical  fact  that  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista 
was  won  by  the  Americans  over  odds  of  four  to  one  in 
numbers,  through  the  heroic  conduct  of  volunteer  sol- 
diers like  our  hero. 

Although  not  a  West  Pointer,  but  a  citizen  soldier, 
he  paid  this  tribute  to  the  trained  soldier:  "Men  more 
accomplished  in  their  profession,  or  in  any  profession, 
than  those  who  served  in  Mexico,  are  nowhere  to  be  met 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  83 

with.  Amply  and  nobly  did  they  vindicate  the  institu- 
tion at  West  Point, — until  then  the  theme  of  vituperation 
for  every  miserable  demagogue;  and  since  then,  never 
mentioned  but  with  praise.  Amply  and  nobly  did  they 
vindicate  the  reputation  of  their  several  corps  and  of 
our  gallant  little  army.  As  to  them,  I  need  not  add  my 
feeble  praise;  they  wrote  the  vindication  in  letters  of 
blood  on  every  battle  field,  and  it  gleams  in  letters  of 
light  on  every  page  of  the  Mexican  war." 

But  he  did  not  at  all  depreciate  the  citizen-soldier. 
Speaking  to  a  body  of  cadets  in  regard  to  the  Mexican 
War,  he  said: 

"We  had  citizen  soldiers  there  such  as  I  hope  you 
may  become;  men  called  from  private  life,  but  who  had 
received  military  education.  I  do  not  know  how  many, 
and  I  disparage  no  others  by  naming  three,  two  who  fell 
at  Buena  Vista,  and  one  who  survives.  I  speak  of  M'Kee 
and  Clay  of  the  Kentucky  regiment,  and  Davis1  of  Missis- 
sippi. I  have  the  last  before  my  eyes  now,  as  he  sat 
on  his  horse  for  an  hour  or  two  among  the  bullets,  after 
a  ball  had  shattered  his  ankle;  his  face  pale  but  com- 
posed, his  voice  calm,  his  eye  bright,  the  very  ideal  of  a 
hero.  These  and  many  others  were  citizen-soldiers  whom 
you  may  be  proud  to  imitate;  the  souls  of  honor,  and 
the  mirrors  of  knighthood;  gentle  in  their  bearing,  but 
firm  as  the  rocks;  generous,  liberal,  warm-hearted,  im- 
petuous; brave  as  Du  Guesclin,  and  chivalrous  as  Bay- 


1.    Jefferson  Davis,  afterward  President  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America. 


84  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

ard;    proud,   but  neither  haughty   nor   vain,   educated, 
accomplished,  ready  for  any  duty  or  emergency." 

"War,"  he  said,  "seems  to  be  the  natural  state  and 
element  of  man,  and  the  appetite  for  blood  a  stern  neces- 
sity of  his  nature.  As  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  one 
species  thrives  by  the  destruction  and  extermination  of 
another;  as  in  the  animal  kingdom,  life  maintains  life; 
and  the  larger,  by  the  law  of  their  nature,  pursue,  capture 
and  devour  the  smaller.  As  man  himself  in  this  respect 
ranks  with  the  tiger  and  the  eagle,  and  preys  upon  the 
harmless  fish,  the  graceful  deer,  and  even  the  bright- 
eyed  singing  bird,  so  until  lately,  it  might  almost  have 
seemed  that  by  a  like  unerring  law  of  nature  man's  life 
maintained  the  life  of  man;  that  might  made  right,  and 
the  strong  were  made  and  meant  to  prey  upon  the  weak, 
and  secure  their  own  fortune  and  luxury  at  the  price  of 
the  pain,  the  misery,  the  torture  and  the  death  of  others, 
whose  virtue  and  feebleness  were  their  only  protection. 

"Of  the  two  first  sons  of  Adam,  eldest  born  upon  our 
planet,  when  one  would  have  thought  the  world  wide 
enough,  and  causes  of  quarrel  rare  enough,  for  them, 
at  least,  to  have  lived  in  peace;  the  tiller  of  the  soil  rose 
up  against  his  brother,  the  shepherd,  and  slew  him;  and 
in  the  days  of  Noah  crime,  rapine,  violence  and  murder 
had  beceome  so  rife  upon  the  earth,  that,  saving  only 
that  patriarch  and  his  family,  God  swept  away  the  whole 
population  of  the  world  with  the  besom  of  deluge. 

"Long  before  the  days  of  Abraham,  war  had  again 
commenced;  and  from  that  time  to  the  present  there  has 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  85 

probably  never  been  a  single  hour  when  it  has  not  raged 
on  some  portion  of  the  earth's  surface. 

"Nor  since  they  chained  the  mightiest  of  Captains  to 
a  desert  rock  in  the  middle  of  the  ocean,  has  the  world 
been  at  peace." 

While  himself  a  gallant  and  fearless  soldier,  and 
recognizing  the  existing  tendency  to  war,  he  deprecates 
the  necessity  for  war  in  these  lines,  which  are  very  ap- 
propriate at  the  present  time: 

When  shall  the  nations  all  be  free, 

And  force  no  longer  reign; 
None  bend  to  brutal  Power  the  knee, 

None  hug  the  golden  chain? — 
No  longer  rule  the  ancient  Wrong, 
The  weak  be  trampled  by  the  strong? — 
How  long,  dear  God  in  heaven!  how  long, 

The  people  wail  in  vain? 


CHAPTER  XL 

DUEL  WITH  COLONEL  JOHN  SELDEN  ROANE,  IN  WHICH  PIKE 

CALMLY  ENJOYS  A  CIGAR  UP  TO  THE  MINUTE  WHEN 

THE  COMMAND  WAS  GIVEN  TO  "FIRE." 

Next  came  red  Rashness,  with  his  restless  step, 

In  whose  large  eyes  glowed  the  fierce  fire  that  boiled 

In  his  broad  chest.    Large  gouts  of  blood  did  drip 
From  his  drawn  sword;  the  trembling  slaves  recoiled; 

Scorn  and  fierce  passion  curled  his  writhing  lip; 
His  dress  was  torn  with  furious  haste,  and  soiled — - 

So  springing  on  his  reckless  steed,  he  shook 

The  rein,  and  downward  his  swift  journey  took. 

Pike  came  back  from  the  Mexican  War  with  much  to 
say.  Not  at  that  time  owning  a  newspaper  of  his  own, 
he  took  the  columns  of  the  Gazette  to  say  what  was  in 
his  mind,  and  to  say  it  in  the  usual  Pike  way,  which 
was  heartily  and  frankly.  Pike  was  not  satisfied  with 
the  behavior  of  a  part  of  the  Arkansas  regiment  at  the 
battle  of  Buena  Vista,  and  he  told  Little  Rock  all  about 
it.  But  the  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  regiment,  John 
Selden  Roane,  considered  the  criticisms  as  reflecting 
on  him  personally.  A  challenge  resulted,  and  was 
promptly  accepted.  The  meeting  took  place  early  in  the 
morning,  on  the  sandbar  opposite  Fort  Smith,  in  the  old 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  87 

Indian  Territory.  Pike's  conduct  showed  unusual  cool- 
ness and  heroism. 

His  seconds  were  Luther  Chase  and  John  Drennen, 
and  Dr.  James  A.  Dibrell,  Sr.,  was  his  surgeon,  while 
Pat  Farrelly,  William  H.  Cousin  and  Dr.  T.  Thruston 
accompanied  him  as  friends.  Roane  was  accompanied 
by  Henry  M.  Rector  and  R.  W.  Johnson,  as  seconds,  and 
Dr.  Philip  Burton  as  surgeon. 

There  was  a  number  of  spectators,  including  some 
Indians,  but  they  were  kept  at  a  safe  distance  by  the 
seconds  and  surgeons. 

Standing,  unflinchingly,  looking  like  a  Grecian  god, 
his  long-flowing  locks  being  blown  about  by  the  breezes, 
Pike  enjoyed  a  cigar  until  the  command  was  given  to 
"fire." 

At  call,  both  parties  promptly  stepped  forward,  dis- 
tance ten  paces,  when  duelling  pistols  were  loaded  and 
placed  in  their  hands.  Pike  stood  up  stream,  Roane 
down.  Both  were  firm  and  determined,  neither  display- 
ing the  least  agitation.  At  the  word,  both  parties  fired, 
but  neither  was  wounded.  A  second  fire  was  had,  with 
the  same  result.  Some  say  that  Pike's  beard  was  touched. 

After  the  second  fire,  Pike  and  Dibrell  were  sitting 
on  a  cottonwood  log  on  the  edge  of  the  forest  which 
fringed  the  bar,  when  Dr.  Burton  approached  with  a 
slow  and  dignified  step,  and,  when  within  a  few  paces, 
he  beckoned  Dr.  Dibrell  to  meet  him.  Dibrell  came  for- 
ward, and  he  remarked:  "Dibrell,  it's  a  d shame 

that  these  men  should  stand  here  and  shoot  at  each  other 
until  one  or  the  other  is  killed  or  wounded.  They  have 


88  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

— — • 

shown  themselves  to  be  brave  men  and  would  fire  all 
day  unless  prevented.  The  seconds  on  neither  side  can 
interfere,  because  it  would  be  considered  a  great  dis- 
paragement for  either  to  make  a  proposition  for  cessation 
of  hostilities.  So,  let  us,  as  surgeons,  assume  the  re- 
sponsibility and  say  they  shall  not  fire  another  time; 
that  unless  they  do  as  we  desire,  we  will  leave  the  field 
to  them,  helpless,  however  cruel  it  may  be." 

Dibrell  replied  that  he  knew  nothing  about  the  code, 
but  would  consult  his  principal.  He  then  repeated  to 
Pike  Dr.  Burton's  proposition,  word  for  word  as  made 
to  him.  Pike  said:  "I  want  one  more  shot  at  him  and 
will  hit  him  in  a  vital  part;  I  believe  he  has  tried  to 
kill  me;  I  have  not  tried  to  hit  him."  After  reflection, 
he  added:  "Do  as  you  think  proper  about  it,  but  do  not 
by  anything  compromise  my  honor." 

The  good  offices  of  Doctors  Dibrell  and  Burton  in 
the  interest  of  peace  and  humanity  were  so  effective  that 
the  matter  ended  honorably  to  both  parties. 

Dr.  Burton  said,  "I  am  happy  to  say  that  I  am  au- 
thorized by  Mr.  Roane's  second,  Mr.  Rector  (afterwards 
Governor  Rector)  to  state  that  our  principal,  who  was 
the  challenging  party,  has  declared  himself  as  having 
received  entire  satisfaction." 

"That  being  the  case,"  said  Dr.  Dibrell,  "as  Mr.  Pike's 
surgeon,  I  suggest  that  these  two  brave  and  honorable 
gentlemen  shake  hands." 

Pike  stood  resolutely  in  his  place  until  Roane  ad- 
vanced toward  him  with  extended  hand,  when  he  met 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  89 

him  and  accepted  his  hand,  with  all  the  grace  and 
dignity  of  a  Chesterfield. 

The  bearing  of  neither  of  the  principals  could  have 
been  more  punctilious.  But  in  a  few  minutes  they  were 
conversing  with  the  party  and  with  each  other  as  if 
there  had  never  been  the  slightest  difference  between 
them.  And  in  a  short  while  after  the  reconciliation 
had  been  effected  all  parties  adjourned  to  a  banquet  at 
Fort  Smith. 

Pike  and  Roane  afterwards  became  close  friends  and 
companions. 

Roane  was  a  good  shot,  who  could  kill  a  deer  while 
running  or  hit  a  turkey  on  the  wing;  Pike  was  equally  as 
good  a  marksman;  so  that  all  concerned  had  expected 
a  funeral,  instead  of  a  banquet. 

This  is  said  to  have  been  the  last  duel  between  promi- 
nent persons  in  Arkansas. 

Pike  returned  to  Little  Rock,  and  repaired  to  his 
law  office. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

HIS   SERVICES  IN  THE   CONFEDERATE   ARMY — HE   RECRUITS 
AND  COMMANDS  A  BRIGADE  OF  INDIANS. 

/  shuddered  for  a  time,  and  looked  again. 
Watching  the  day  of  that  eventful  dawn; 

Wild  War  had  broken  his  adamantine  chain, 
Bestrid  the  steed  of  Anarchy,  and  drawn 

His  bloody  scimitar;  a  fiery  rain 

Of  blood  poured  on  the  land,  and  scorched  the  corn; 

Wild  shouts,  mad  cries,  and  frequent  trumpets  rang, 

And  iron  hoofs  thundered  with  constant  clang. 

For  the  next  few  years  Pike  was  busy  with  an  exten- 
sive law  practice,  but  occasionally  we  find  him  writing 
poetry,  and  every  now  and  then  he  is  heard  of  as  attend- 
ing some  important  convention  or  representative  body 
in  various  parts  of  the  Union. 

His  vacations  were  spent  in  the  open,  in  hunting  or 
fishing.  Colonel  J.  N.  Smithee  calls  attention  to  his 
great  fondness  for  the  prairie  and  the  woods.  For  a 
quarter  of  a  century  prior  to  1860  he  says  Pike  never 
failed  each  year  to  take  an  outing  with  his  gun  in  the 
country  west  of  Arkansas.  There  he  would  sometimes 
join  an  Indian  hunting  party  and  spend  weeks  in  search 
of  game,  when  his  legal  business  would  admit  of  his 
absence.  It  was  in  this  way  that  he  formed  lasting 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  91 

friendships  with  the  Indians,  who  afterwards  employed 
him  as  counsel  to  represent  their  interests  at  the  National 
capital.  His  legal  work  of  this  character  assumed  huge 
proportions.  He  could  talk  to  some  of  the  tribes  in  their 
own  language,  and  it  is  stated  on  good  authority  that  he 
actually  had  been  recognized  as  a  chief  of  one  tribe  of 
Indians,  which  is  certainly  a  remarkable  thing.  Albert 
Pike,  the  Indian  chief! 

Another  war  cloud  has  gathered.  There  is  to  be  a 
terrible  conflict  between  the  brothers  of  the  North  and 
the  South.  Although  born  in  the  East,  Pike  had  become 
thoroughly  identified  with  the  South,  her  institutions  and 
interests.  He  espoused  the  southern  cause  in  the  conflict, 
because  he  believed  that  her  constitutional  rights  should 
be  upheld.  He  made  an  argument  before  the  Secession 
Convention  of  Arkansas,  which  is  said  to  have  been  a 
masterpiece.  The  convention  accepted  the  tender  of  his 
services,  and  appointed  him  commander  of  the  Indian 
Department,  in  the  Indian  Territory,  with  the  rank  of 
brigadier-general.  He  was  sent  to  treat  with  the  five 
civilized  tribes  on  the  western  border,  to  attach  them  if 
possible  to  the  Southern  cause.  He  made  treaties  with 
the  civilized  tribes,  and  also  with  the  Comanches,  Apa- 
ches, Kiowas,  Kickapoos  and  other  wild  tribes.  Where 
he  could  not  secure  their  cooperation,  he  did  good  ser- 
vice in  gaining  their  neutrality.  He  also  recruited  a 
brigade  of  Cherokees. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  war,  at  an  army  camp  at  Ft. 
McCulloch,  on  Bluff  river,  a  few  miles  east  of  old  Fort 
Washita,  there  was  gathered  a  large  delegation  of  the 


92  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

wild  and  roving  tribes  of  Kiowa,  Comanche  and  Chero- 
kee Indians.  They  had  been  summoned  to  council,  as 
allies,  by  General  Pike.  It  was  a  wonderful  sight  to 
see  these  Indians,  as  they  sat  in  a  semi-circle  in  front  of 
General  Pike's  large  office  tent  all  day  long,  gazing  at 
his  striking  and  majestic  person,  as  he  sat  writing,  read- 
ing or  smoking.  They  seemed  to  reverence  him  like  a 
god,  says  W.  E.  Woodruff,  Jr.,  in  his  "With  the  Light 
Guns." 

The  Indian  regiments  were  ordered  from  the  Indian 
Territory  into  Arkansas,  and,  under  General  Pike,  took 
part  in  some  skirmishes  and  one  battle.  This  was  the 
battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  which  was  usually  known  as  the  bat- 
tle of  Elkhorn, — so  called  from  the  name  of  a  tavern 
near  the  battlefield.  There  were  engaged  in  this  battle 
15,000  Confederates,  under  General  Earl  Van  Dorn;  and 
20,000  Federals,  commanded  by  General  Samuel  R.  Cur- 
tis. The  Indians  rendered  valiant  service  for  the  Confed- 
erates. The  battle,  however,  was  fought  contrary  to 
Pike's  judgment  and  against  his  advice,  and  it  terminated 
unsuccessfully  to  the  Confederates,  on  account  of  the 
Confederate  withdrawal  by  Van  Dorn's  command,  al- 
though the  Federals  had  been  repulsed  at  every  point. 

In  regard  to  their  fighting  qualities,  Pike  said  that 
no  matter  how  brave  he  may  be,  the  Red  man  cannot 
stand  up  and  face  a  discharge  of  cannon.  At  the  first 
shots  from  the  Federal  cannon  which  flew  over  the  heads 
of  the  Indians  at  the  battle  of  Elkhorn,  limbs  of  trees 
were  shattered,  which  fell  into  the  midst  of  the  Indians, 
followed  by  bursted  shells,  which  made  more  noise  than 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  93 

they  did  damage.  The  Indians  broke  and  ran,  and  they 
never  stopped  running  until  they  reached  their  homes, 
some  of  them  hundreds  of  miles  away.  The  Indian  does 
not  fight  in  the  open.  He  must  have  a  log,  a  tree  or  a 
rock  behind  which  to  hide. 

Pike  took  part  in  many  other  activities  of  the  war, 
with  credit  to  himself,  but  resigned  from  the  Confederate 
Army  in  1864  to  accept  a  place  on  the  State  Supreme 
Court  Bench.  His  daughter  is  authority  for  the  state- 
ment that  his  resignation  was  due  to  the  fact  that  he  be- 
came tired  of  being  commanded  by  men  of  inferior  in- 
tellect and  of  being  treated  with  injustice.  He  could  not 
bear  subordination.  In  a  poem  entitled,  "Reflections," 
he  bares  his  heart  in  regard  to  War  and  declares  his  in- 
tention to  dedicate  himself  to  other  services: 


Out  on  this  wretched  party-war! 

Where  the  best  weapons,  trick,  chicane, 

And  perjury  and  cunning  are, — 
Its   picked   troops,   scoundrelism's   train — 
Where  baser  men  outweigh  the  best, 

Lies  always  over  truth  prevail, 
Wisdom  by  numbers  is  oppressed, 

Knavery  at  Virtue  dares  to  rail, 

Slanders  the  brightest  name  assail; 
Victory  in  such  a  war  humbles  the  victor's  crest. 

Henceforth,  myself  I  dedicate 

To  other  service.  Let  me  read 
Thy  pages,  Nature — though  so  late 

Thy  voice  of  reprimand  I  heed. 
From  bud  and  leaf,  from  flower  and  bloom, 


94 The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

From  every  fair  created  thing, 
Thy  teachings  will  my  soul  illume, 

So  long  in  darkness  slumbering; 
That  when  to  Life's  bright  sunny  Spring, 
Autumn  succeeds,  it  may  not  all  my  hopes  entomb. 

Pike's  war  song,  "Dixie,"  shows  how  strong  were  his 
feelings  in  regard  to  the  Southern  cause.  There  is  all 
the  fire  of  his  ardent  emotions  in  this  verse: 

Southrons,  hear  your  country  call  you! 
Up!  lest  wojrse  than  death  befall  you! 

To  arms!  to  arms!  to  arms!  in  Dixie! 
Lo!  all  the  beacon  fires  are  lighted, 
Let  all  your  hearts  be  now  united! 

To  arms!  to  arms!  to  arms!  in  Dixie! 

Halt  not  till  our  Federation 

Secures  among  Earth's  powers  its  station! 

To  arms!  to  arms!  to  arms!  in  Dixie! 
Then  at  peace,  and  crowned  with  glory, 
Hear  your  children  tell  the  story! 

To  arms!  to  arms!  to  arms!  in  Dixie! 

Near  the  close  of  the  War,  when  the  Federals  were  in 
control  of  Little  Rock,  the  seat  of  the  Confederate  state 
government  was  established  at  Washington,  Ark.,  and 
Pike  moved  to  that  place.  A  short  distance  from  that 
town,  there  is  pointed  out  to  the  visitor  an  old-fashioned 
frame  building  of  the  southern  type,  with  a  big  verandah 
in  front  and  a  wide  hall  running  through  the  centre  of  it. 
It  is  in  a  sad  state  of  decay.  "That  is  where  Albert  Pike 
lived  for  awhile  at  the  close  of  the  war,"  you  will  be  told; 
"he  transferred  his  library  from  Little  Rock  to  that 
house,  and  it  took  two  ox- wagons  to  bring  the  books 
there."  The  big  stack  of  books  made  a  lasting  impres- 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  95 

sion  on  the  people  of  that  simple  neighborhood,  where 
he  was  a  recluse  for  a  short  while,  and  recourse  to  his 
books  no  doubt  enabled  him  in  a  measure  to  forget  the 
turmoil  of  the  times. 

After  the  close  of  the  War  Between  the  States  he 
wrote  "A  Lament  for  Dixie,"  consisting  of  nine  verses, 
one  of  which  reads, — 

Dear  to  us  our  conquered  banners 
Greeted  once  with  loud  hosannas; 

Dear  the  tattered  flag  of  Dixie; 
Dear  the  field  of  Honor  glorious, 
Where  defeated  or  victorious, 

Sleep  the  immortal  Dead  of  Dixie. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

HIS  WORK  AS  AN  AUTHOR. 

My  children  with  their  blameless  looks, 
My  home  with  modest,  humble  cheer, 

My  old  familiar,  friendly  books, 
Companions  faithful  and  sincere! 

Although,  as  Hempstead's  History  of  Arkansas  re- 
cords, Pike  was  Arkansas'  first  great  writer  and  has  never 
lost  his  prestige  as  the  state's  greatest  writer,  his  fame 
does  not  rest  on  his  literary  work.  He  is  better  known 
both  as  a  lawyer  and  a  Mason.  And  the  reason  that  he 
is  little  known  as  a  writer,  in  the  first  place,  is  that  his 
newspaper  work  in  Arkansas  and  Tennessee  had  small 
circulation.  Arkansas  during  the  time  that  he  edited  the 
Little  Rock  Advocate,  in  the  30's,  was  little  better  than 
a  Territorial  wilderness.  Then,  as  to  his  poetry  and 
miscellaneous  prose  writings,  he  was  averse  to  allowing 
them  to  be  printed  in  book  form  and  offered  for  sale. 
Besides,  he  was  not  a  mere  dreamer,  but  a  practical 
lawyer  and  man  of  action.  He  apparently  did  .not  as- 
pire to  become  a  professional  author.  To  use  his  own 
language,  he  read  much  of  the  writings  of  others, — more 
than  he  had  well  digested,  and  had  added  "some  uncon- 
sidered  trifles  of  his  own  to  the  general  stock  of  liter- 
ature." Said  he:  "I  have  so  long  devoted  myself 


w 

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o 


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u 


Pi 
O 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  97 

also  to  that  ancient  and  crabbed,  but  very  respectable 
mistress,  the  Law,  that  if  I  venture  to  renew  my  atten- 
tions to  the  muses,  those  volatile  young  ladies  only  laugh 
at  my  confused  and  awkward  attempts  at  a  declaration, 
and  commend  me,  with  their  distinguished  consideration, 
to  the  wrinkles  of  my  venerable  mistress,  at  whose  jeal- 
ousy they  express  an  over-acted  alarm." 

His  verse  sprang  spontaneously  from  a  great  poetic 
soul,  without  any  desire  for  publicity  or  expectation  of 
profit.  He  wrote  that  with  him,  "poetry  has  not  been  a 
purpose,  but  a  passion,  and  the  passions  should  be  held 
in  reverence;  they  must  not — they  cannot — at  will  be  ex- 
cited, with  an  eye  to  the  paltry  compensation,  or  the  more 
paltry  commendation,  of  mankind."  This  was  doubtless 
true  of  him.  At  any  rate,  we  have  his  word  for  it  that 
he  received  no  compensation  for  any  of  his  poetry;  and 
he  would  probably,  in  his  high-mindedness,  have  scorned 
to  accept  pay  for  any  of  his  efforts  in  this  line. 

It  is  no  wonder  then  that  an  author  whose  work  was 
done  in  Arkansas  should  have  been  so  long  neglected 
that,  while  his  best  poems  were  composed  in  the  thirties 
and  forties,  it  was  not  until  the  year  1900,  and  after  his 
death,  that  his  fame  received  the  recognition  of  having 
an  edition  of  his  poems  offered  to  the  public. 

His  best  known  poetical  pieces,  after  the  "Hymns 
to  the  Gods"  and  the  "Ode  to  the  Mocking  Bird,"  are 
"Lines  Written  on  the  Rocky  Mountains,"  "To  Spring" 
and  "To  the  Planet  Jupiter." 

The  Hymns  were  published  in  Blackwood's  Magazine 
for  June,  1839.  The  "Ode  to  the  Mocking  Bird,"  original- 


98  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

ly  published  in  Philadelphia  in  about  1836,  was  reprint- 
ed in  Blackwood's  for  March  1840.  "Ariel"  appeared  in 
a  short  lived  publication  in  Boston  in  1824.  About  the 
same  time  he  published  an  "Indian  Romance,  Illustrative 
of  the  habits  of  the  Comanche  and  Navajo  Indians  and 
of  Mexican  life  at  an  early  period  of  the  Incursions  by 
the  Spaniards." 

He  was  author  of  numerous  other  productions,  many 
worthy  pieces  having  been  lost  or  forgotten,  some  having 
appeared  in  various  publications,  principally  of  a  local 
character. 

His  "Nugae"  was  printed  in  1854,  supposedly  at  the 
request  of  friends  and  admirers,  and  he  brought  out  150 
copies,  for  private  distribution.  It  contained  a  selection 
of  his  poems,  including  lyrics,  love  songs  and  his  "Hymns 
to  the  Gods."  The  book,  which  was  exquisitely  gotten 
up,  contained  the  following  modest  preface: 

"The  trifles  contained  in  this  volume,  so  far  as  the 
original  warp  and  wool  remain,  have  been  written  at  dif- 
ferent periods,  during  many  years.  I  desired  to  put  them 
in  such  shape  that  they  might  be  preserved  for  my  chil- 
dren and  a  few  friends.  I  am  too  conscious  of  their 
great  defects  not  to  know  that  they  would  be  of  no  value 
or  interest  to  any  other  person  in  the  world;  and  not  to 
be  aware  that  if  I  were  to  publish  them  for  sale,  I  should 
justly  incur  the  wrath  of  all  critics  and  reviewers  who 
might  think  that  they  were  worthy  of  any  notice  at  all. 
I  am  not  rash  enough  to  incur  their  just  vengeance. 
Having,  therefore,  first  entirely  rewritten  them,  I  have 
printed  150  copies  for  complimentary  distribution." 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  99 

An  unbound  autographed  copy  of  this  book  was,  upon 
request,  sent  to  the  late  Bishop  H.  N.  Pierce,  of  Little 
Rock,  accompanied  by  a  friendly  letter,  in  which  the 
gifted  author  said: 

"Washington,  20  February,  1883. 
"My  Dear  Bishop: 

"Regretting  that  I  did  not  do  it  without  waiting  to 
be  asked  for  it,  and  yet  fortunate  to  have,  as  part  of  my 
delay,  your  own  poem,  which  I  place  in  my  own  volume 
and  shall  preserve,  I  send  you  toda<r  by  express,  a  copy 
of  the  Poems,  printed  by  me  to  re  given  to  personal 
friende-  alone. 

"I  should  be  better  pleased  if  the  volume  could  go  to 
you  in  becoming  dress;  but  the  expense  of  printing  the 
book  and  binding  a  few  copies  for  ladies — some  loved 
and  others  liked  by  me,  has  exhausted  my  slender  re- 
sources, and  I  am  compelled  to  send  you  the  naked  sheets 
to  be  clothed  according  to  your  own  taste. 

Faithfully  yours, 

"Albert  Pike." 

"He  wrote,"  says  his  daughter,  "but  little  poetry  dur- 
ing the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life;  the  griefs,  the  dis- 
appointments, the  carking  cares  and  burdens  under  which 
he  labored,  seemed  like  rank  weeds,  to  choke  out  the 
fine  flowers  of  poesy."  As  might  be  expected,  it  was 
during  this  period,  however,  that  he  wrote  his  most  popu- 
lar poem,  "Every  Year,"  which  lines  he  is  on  record  as 
saying  pleased  him  as  much  as  any  he  had  ever  written. 
The  pathos  and  feeling  of  this  poem  evidence  the  exact 
and  sad  condition  of  mind  under  which,  his  daughter 


100  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

states,  the  author  was  laboring  at  the  time  he  wrote  it; 
and  we  have  seen  old  people  moved  to  tears  as  they 
read — 

Life  is  a  count  of  losses, 

Every  year; 
For  the  weak  are  heavier  crosses, 

Every  year; 

Lost  Springs  with  sobs  replying 
Unto  weary  Autumn's  sighing, 
While  those  we  love  are  dying, 

Every  year. 

The  days  have  less  of  gladness, 

Every  year; 
The  nights  more  weight  of  sadness, 

Every  year; 

Fair  Springs  no  longer  charm  us, 
The  winds  and  weather  harm  us, 
The  threats  of  death  alarm  us, 

Every  year. 

A  beam  of  hope  usually  brightens  the  eye  of  a  reader 
as  the  closing  stanza,  which  has  often  been  quoted  at 
funerals  to  console  the  bereaved,  is  read: 

But  the  truer  life  draws  nigher, 

Every  year; 
And   its   morning   star  climbs   higher, 

Every  year; 

Earth's  hold  on  us  grows  slighter, 
And  the  heavy  burden  lighter, 
And  the  Dawn  Immortal  brighter, 

Every  year. 

In  regard  to  his  "Hymns  to  the  Gods,"  John  Hallum's 
Biographical  and  Pictorial  History  of  Arkansas  (1887) 
contains  the  following: 


GENERAL  ALBERT  PIKE. 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  101 

"We  copy  from  a  recent  periodical  furnished  the 
author  by  Colonel  E.  W.  Boudinot — 

"Nearly  half  a  century  ago  Albert  Pike  contributed 
to  Blackwood's  Magazine  a  poem  of  more  than  six  hun- 
dred lines,  called  'Hymns  to  the  Gods.'  A  letter  from 
the  poet  to  the  famous  editor  of  the  great  Edinburgh 
periodical,  tendering  his  poem  for  publication,  is  printed 
at  the  end  of  the  verses  in  the  June,  1839,  number  of  the 
magazine,  a  time-stained  copy  of  which,  bearing  the 
written  address,  'Glasgow  Coffee  Rooms,'  has  strayed 
into  our  hands,  and  following  this  letter  are  some  genial 
characteristic  words  of  welcome  and  praise  from  Chris- 
topher North.  We  reproduce  the  poet's  letter  and  the 
comments  of  'C.  N.' " 

"Little  Rock,  State  of  Arkansas,  Aug.  15,  1838. 

"Sir — It  is  with  much  doubt  and  many  misgivings  I 
have  been  induced  by  the  entreaties  of  some  friends  in 
Boston  to  send  you  the  accompanying  trifles  in  verse 
from  this  remote  corner  of  the  Union — beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi. I  would  fain  believe  them  worthy  a  place  in 
your  estimable  maga.,  which  regularly  reaches  me  here, 
one  thousand  miles  from  New  York,  within  six  or  seven 
weeks  of  its  publication  in  Edinburgh,  and  is  duly  wel- 
comed as  it  deserves.  Should  you  judge  them  worthy  of 
publication,  accept  them  as  a  testimonial  of  respect  of- 
fered by  one  resident  in  southwestern  forests,  to  him 
whose  brilliant  talents  have  endeared  him  not  only  to 
every  English,  but  to  multitudes  of  American  bosoms, 


102  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

equally  dear  as  Christopher  North  and  Professor  Wilson. 
"Most  respectfully,  sir, 

"Your  obedient  servant, 

"ALBERT  PIKE." 

To  which  the  great  editor  of  Blackwood's  replied  in 
a  footnote  to  the  poem  in  his  periodical  as  follows: 

"These  fine  hymns,  which  entitle  their  author  to 
take  his  place  in  the  highest  order  of  his  country's  poets, 
reached  us  only  a  week  or  two  ago,  though  Mr.  Pike's 
most  gratifying  letter  is  dated  so  far  back  as  August, 
and  we  mention  this  that  he  may  not  suppose  such  com- 
position could  have  remained  unhonored  in  our  reposi- 
tories from  autumn  to  spring.  His  packet  was  accom- 
panied by  a  letter — not  less  gratifying — from  Mr.  Isaac 
C.  Pray,  dated  New  York,  April  20,  1839,  and  we  hope 
before  many  weeks  have  elapsed  the  friends,  though  per- 
haps then  almost  as  far  distant  from  each  other  as  from 
us,  may  accept  this,  our  brotherly  salutation  from  our 
side  of  the  Atlantic.— C.  N." 

"One  of  the  most  interesting  incidents  in  the  history 
of  literature,"  says  one  writer,  "would  be  a  true  picture 
of  that  master  of  the  press,  Kit  North,  when  he  opened 
the  mail  package  from  that  dim  and  unknown  world  of 
Arkansas,  and  his  eyes  rested  on  the  pages  of  Pike's 
manuscript;  *  *  *  this  great  but  merciless  critic  had 
written  Byron  to  death,  and  one  can  imagine  his  sur- 
prise when  he  read  the  lines  penned  in  the  wilderness 
by  an  unknown  boy." 

A  literary  man  in  New  York  recently  made  the  as- 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  103 

sertion  that  Pike  was  not  an  original  thinker,  but  a  great 
plagiarist.  This  critic  was  either  unfair  or  not  familiar 
with  his  writings.  One  cannot  read  Pike's  poetry  or 
prose  without  realizing  that  he  had  "a  taste  for  elevated 
joys,"  or  without  finding  original  gems  that  give  evi- 
dence of,  not  only  talent,  but  versatile  genius.  He  may 
not  have  been  one  of  the  greatest  masters  in  that  fine 
art  of  poetic  literature,  but  his  mind  was  certainly  stored 
with  knowledge  and  fanciful  rythmical  pictures,  which 
he  had  the  ability  to  portray.  He  created  beautiful 
thought-pictures  and  diffused  a  noble  philosophy.  A 
man  must  have  been  accustomed  to  the  "sweet  ripplings 
of  the  Pierian  Springs"  who  could  express  himself  in 
such  faultless  lyrical  verse  as  his  "After  the  Midnight 
Cometh  Morn" — 

The  years  come,  and  the  years  go, 

And  the  leaves  of  Life  keep  falling, 

Carrie,  falling; 
And  across  the  sunless  river's  flow, 

With  accents  soft  and  whispers  low, 

The  friends  long  lost  are  calling, 

Carrie,  calling; 

While  Autumn  his  red  glory  wears, 
And  clouds  oppress  the  sky,  like  cares; 

And  the  old  griefs  die,  and  new  joys  are  born, 

And  always  after  midnight  cometh  morn. 

Some  years  ago  it  was  charged  that  Poe  had  mis- 
taken "recollection  for  invention"  in  patterning  the 
"Raven"  after  Pike's  "Isadore,"  which  was  first  pub- 
lished in  the  New  York  Evening  Mirror,  while  Poe 
was  employed  on  that  journal,  and  two  years  before 
the  publication  of  the  "Raven." 


104  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

Poe  is  quoted  as  having  pronounced  Pike,  who  was 
born  in  the  same  year  as  himself,  and  in  the  same  city, 
the  most  classic  of  American  poets.  A  discussion  of 
the  question,  "Did  Pike  influence  Poe?"  by  Prof.  Wil- 
liam F.  O'Donnell,  recently  appeared  in  a  little  publica- 
tion called  "The  Book  News  Monthly." 

A  STANZA   FROM   ISADORE. 

The  vines  and  flowers  we  planted,  Love,  I  tend  with  anxious  care, 
And  yet  they  droop  and  fade  away,  as  though  they  wanted  air; 
They  cannot  live  without  thine  eyes  to  feed  them  with  their  light; 
Since  thy  hands  ceased  to  trim  them,  Love,  they  cannot  grow 

aright ; 
Thou  art  lost  to  them  forever,  Isadore! 

Pike's  prose  writings  are  by  some  admired  more  than 
his  poetry.  Judge  Jeremiah  Black  said  that  he  was  one 
of  the  great  masters  of  the  English  language. 

A  list  of  his  literary,  legal  and  Masonic  works  would 
make  a  large  catalogue. 

The  reply  by  him  for  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scot- 
tish Rite  of  Freemasonry  to  the  letter  "Humanum  Genus" 
of  Pope  Leo  XIII,  issued  from  Charleston,  S.  C.,  in  1884, 
is  one  of  the  cherished  historical  papers  of  that  order. 

Without  siding  with  either  the  Catholics  or  the 
Masons,  it  is  safe  to  say  after  a  reading  of  this  reply 
to  Pope  Leo's  Encyclical  in  denunciation  of  Freemasonry, 
that  no  more  scholarly  presentation  of  a  subject  was 
ever  penned,  or  an  abler  argument  ever  made  to  support 
the  brief  of  a  lawyer. 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  Masonic  Order  will 
not  receive  Roman  Catholics  into  its  membership,  but 
that  is  denied  in  this  pamphlet.  It  is  stated  therein: 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  105 

"Freemasonry  makes  no  war  upon  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic religion.  To  do  this  is  impossible  for  it,  because  it 
has  never  ceased  to  proclaim  its  cardinal  tenets  to  be  the 
most  perfect  and  absolute  equality  of  right  of  free  opin- 
ion in  matters  of  faith  and  creed.  It  denies  the  right  of 
one  Faith  to  tolerate  another.  To  tolerate  is  to  permit; 
and  to  permit  is  to  refrain  from  prohibiting  or  prevent- 
ing; and  so  a  right  to  tolerate  would  imply  a  right  to 
forbid.  If  there  be  a  right  to  tolerate,  every  Faith  has 
it  alike.  One  is  in  no  wise,  in  the  eye  of  Masonry,  su- 
perior to  the  other;  and  of  two  opposing  faiths  each 
cannot  be  superior  to  the  other;  nor  can  each  tolerate  the 
other. 

"Rome  does  claim  the  right  to  prohibit,  precisely 
now  as  she  always  did.  She  is  never  tolerant  except 
upon  compulsion.  And  Masonry,  having  nothing  to  say 
as  to  her  religious  tenets,  denies  her  right  to  interfere 
with  the  free  exercise  of  opinion. 

"It  will  be  said  that  the  English-speaking  Freemason- 
ry will  not  receive  Catholics  into  its  bosom.  This  is  not 
true.  It  will  not  receive  Jesuits,  because  no  oath  that  it 
can  administer  would  bind  the  conscience  of  a  Jesuit; 
and  it  refuses  also  to  receive  Atheists;  not  denying  their 
perfect  right  to  be  Atheists,  but  declining  to  accept  them 
for  associates,  because  Masonry  recognizes  a  Supreme 
Will,  Wisdom,  Power,  a  God,  who  is  a  protecting  Provi- 
dence, and  to  whom  it  is  not  folly  to  pray." 

While  his  life  in  Washington  was  devoted  almost  ex- 
clusively to  the  work  of  the  Scottish  Rite  branch  of 
Masonry,  he  had  accumulated  a  magnificent  library,  and 


106  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

he  here  found  time  to  do  much  reading.  He  spent  his 
leisure  hours  during  many  years  in  translating  and  com- 
menting on  the  Rig- Veda,  the  Zend-Avesta  and  other  works 
of  Aryan  literature  by  Persian  sages,  in  which  studies  he 
was  greatly  interested.  Not  only  was  he  also  familiar 
with  Latin  and  Greek,  but  read  with  fluency  French, 
Hebrew  and  Sanscrit. 

We  now  come  to  one  of  the  triumphs  of  his  life.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  when  he  was  a  boy,  admission 
to  Harvard  was  denied  him  because  of  insufficient  funds. 
Allibone's  Dictionary  of  Authors  is  authority  for  the 
statement  that  the  faculty  of  that  university  conferred 
on  him  the  degree  of  M.  A.  in  1859.  The  late  Colonel 
Frederick  Webber,  his  old  friend  and  associate  in  Scot- 
tish Rite  Masonry,  stated  to  the  writer  in  Little  Rock 
a  few  years  ago  that  Harvard  did  offer  to  confer  a  degree 
upon  him,  but  that  he  politely  declined  the  honor,  saying 
that  when  he  needed  education,  and  had  no  money,  the 
doors  of  the  institution  were  closed  to  him,  and  that  he 
cared  nothing  for  the  degree  then. 

His  mind  harked  back  to  the  days  of  his  youth  when 
he  thirsted  for  an  education.  He  had  made  good  by  his 
own  efforts,  and  he  took  satisfaction  in  the  delayed  recog- 
nition which  was  accorded  him,  but  he  spurned  the  prof- 
fered degree. 

As  to  how  Pike  was  regarded  among  the  people  who 
knew  him  in  Arkansas,  Judge  John  Hallum,  who  paid 
exalted  tribute  to  his  genius  and  worth,  states  in  his 
"Bench  and  Bar  of  Arkansas" :  "Learning  that  there  was 
an  old  blind  gentleman  in  the  ancient  village  (Dan- 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  107 

ville)  who  knew  Pike  when  he  first  came  to  the  Terri- 
tory, I  called  on  him.  *  *  *  He  was  delighted  to 
hold  converse  with  the  friend  of  Albert  Pike,  and  spoke 
of  Pike's  humble  and  unpretending  advent  into  Arkansas, 
dwelt  on  the  'Casca'  papers,  Crittenden's  visit  to  the 
young  school  teacher,  *  *  *  his  admission  to  the  bar 
and  rapid  upward  flight  to  a  seat  where  giants  dwell. 

"Continuing,  he  said  that  Arkansas  had  big  guns  in 
those  days;  more  brains  than  any  other  given  amount  of 
population  on  the  continent.  There  was  Absolom  Fowler, 
the  knotty  old  Coke  of  the  bar;  Daniel  Walker,  who 
pushed  his  way  with  sledge-hammer  blows  to  the  front 
ranks  of  his  profession;  Sam  Hempstead,  who  was  no 
orator  but  a  deep  thinker,  who  builded  a  monument  out 
of  the  statutes  of  descent  and  distribution  now  so  deeply 
rooted  in  our  system;  and  then  there  were  John  Lenten, 
Jesse  Turner,  Crittenden,  and  others.  'But,'  and  here  the 
old  man's  heart  filled  up,  his  voice  grew  mellow  and 
tremulous  as  he  spanned  the  years,  tears  came  out  of 
his  rayless  eyes,  as  he  paused,  and  said,  'we  all  loved 
Pike;  he  was  one  of  the  truly  great  men  of  this  coun- 
try.' " 

"I  would  rather,"  said  Hallum,  "be  baptised  in  the 
civic  fame  which  inspired  that  tear  from  its  crystal  fount 
than  to  have  won  the  fields  of  Austerlitz,  such 

homage  to  true  worth  and  greatness  is  worth  more  than 
the  pyramids  or  shafts  or  marble  or  brass  dedicated  to 
mortal  fame." 

And  such  regard  meant  more  to  Pike  than  the  degree 
of  a  university. 


108  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

After  his  removal  therefrom,  Pike  was  not  permitted 
by  circumstances  to  be  a  frequent  visitor  to  Arkansas, 
but  he  is  said  to  have  never  referred  to  Little  Rock  with- 
out evidencing  great  emotion,  and  he  retained  a  deep 
affection  for  many  of  his  old  associates  in  the  state. 

He  once  made  mention  of  a  peculiar  prejudice  that 
years  ago  existed — and  which,  unfortunately,  continues 
to  a  more  limited  extent — among  the  people  of  the  state 
outside  of  the  city  in  regard  to  Little  Rock.  "I  under- 
stand very  well  the  feeling  prevailing  in  the  country 
against  Little  Rock,"  said  he,  "that  not  one  man  in  fifty, 
out  of  Little  Rock,  believes  that  there  is  a  single  honest 
man  in  it,  unless  he  belongs  to  his  own  side  in  politics 
or  religion.  This  jealousy  of  Little  Rock,  too  common 
even  among  those  who  ought  to  be  wiser,  is  totally  ab- 
surd and  unfounded." 

A  biography  should  be  entirely  truthful,  and,  with 
a  respectful  consideration  for  the  honored  dead,  it  must 
be  stated  that,  while  most  of  the  old  settlers  who  knew 
him  speak  of  Pike  with  the  greatest  veneration,  there  are 
some  who  do  not.  A  few  are  inclined  to  shake  their 
heads,  and  to  suggest  that  maybe  Pike  in  his  younger 
days  did  not  always  practice  what  he  preached.  None, 
however,  have  been  found  who  could  cite  definite  in- 
stances of  remissness  on  his  part.  Every  forceful  man 
makes  some  enemies,  and  everybody  will  not  speak  well 
of  anybody.  None  of  his  few  detractors  will  gainsay 
that  Pike  was  intellectually  an  unusual  man. 


ALBERT   PIKE  AND   HIS   MASONIC   REGALIA. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

ACTIVITIES  OF  HIS  LATER  YEARS,  AND  HIS  MASONIC  CAREER. 

As  the  bees  do  not  love  or  respect  the  drones,  so 
Masonry  neither  loves  nor  respects  the  idle  and  those 
who  live  by  their  wits;  and  least  of  all  those  parasitic 
acari  that  live  upon  themselves.  For  those  who  are  in- 
dolent are  likely  to  become  dissipated  and  vicious;  and 
perfect  honesty,  which  ought  to  be  the  common  qualifi- 
cation of  all,  is  more  rare  than  diamonds. — Albert  Pike. 

At  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  and  for  several  years 
afterward,  General  Pike  seemed  filled  with  a  great  rest- 
lessness. He  attempted  many  lines  of  activity,  but  per- 
sisted in  few.  The  war  broke  up  previous  connections. 
Some  of  his  nearest  and  dearest  had  fled.  One  son  was 
drowned  in  the  Arkansas  river  in  1859.  Another  was 
killed  during  the  war.  His  wife  died  in  1868,  and  his 
eldest  daughter  in  1869. 

His  song,  "Love  Blooms  But  Once,"  sadly  expresses 
his  feelings  at  this  period: 

When  Autumn's  chilly  winds  complain 

And  red  leaves  withered  fall, 
We  know  that  Spring  will  laugh  again 

And  leaf  and  flower  recall. 

But  when  Love's  saddening  Autumn  wears 
The  hues  that  death  presage, 


110  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

No  Spring  in  Winter's  lap  prepares 
A  second  Golden  Age. 

So  when  Life's  Autumn  sadly  sighs, 

Yet  smiles  its  cold  tears  through, 
No  Spring,  with  warm  and  sunny  skies, 

The  Soul's  youth  will  renew. 

Love  blooms  but  once  and  dies — for  all — 

Life  has  no  second  Spring; 
The  frost  must  come,  the  snow  must  fall, 

Loud  as  the  lark  may  sing. 

0  Love!  0  Life!  ye  fade  like  flowers, 

That  droop  and  die  in  June; 
The  present,  ah!  too  short  is  ours; 

And  Autumn  comes  too  soon. 

He  tried  a  number  of  different  spots,  seeking  peace 
and  happiness  in  vain.  He  spent  a  short  time  in  Canada, 
but  his  sojourn  there  seems  to  have  been  merely  a  period 
of  rest.  Returning  to  the  United  States,  he  spent  about 
two  years  in  Memphis,  Tenn.,  where  he  practiced  law 
for  a  time,  then  edited  the  Memphis  Appeal,  which  was 
one  of  Tennessee's  most  influential  newspapers,  after- 
ward absorbed  by  the  present  Commercial- Appeal.  While 
living  in  Memphis  he  had  also  served  as  president  of 
the  Tennessee  Bar  Association.  He  is  also  traced  there 
through  his  poetry,  among  other  pieces,  having  written 
for  Mrs.  Washington  Barrow  the  poem,  "My  Native 
Land,  My  Tennessee." 


His  final  move  was  to  Washington,  D.  C.,  in  1868. 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  111 

There  he  continued  to  live  about  thirty-three  years, 
except  for  a  brief  residence  in  Alexandria,  Va.  The 
learned  Judge  U.  M.  Rose,  in  his  sketch  of  Chester  Ashley, 
in  Volume  3  of  the  Publications  of  the  Arkansas  Histor- 
ical Society,  writes  of  a  visit  which  he  made  to  Pike  at 
that  place,  and,  saying,  "No  one  could  be  more  interest- 
ing in  conversation,"  he  quotes  Pike's  remarks  about 
the  leaders  and  the  events  of  the  early  days  in  Arkansas. 
From  1868  to  1870,  he  was  the  editor  of  the  Patriot,  a 
Democratic  newspaper  published  in  Washington  City, 
which  paper  contained  some  of  his  best  editorial  and 
miscellaneous  writings. 

Among  all  the  interesting  adventures  and  varied  ex- 
periences of  General  Pike's  remarkable  life,  the  most 
enviable  held  by  him  was  probably  the  last.  In  the  office 
of  the  House  of  the  Temple  of  the  Supreme  Council  of 
the  33rd  Degree,  Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,  at 
Washington  City,  he  was  virtually  a  monarch  of  all  he 
surveyed. 

Although  known  to  have  suffered  griefs,  it  cannot 
be  doubted  that  there  was  to  him  a  satisfaction  in  this 
congenial  place. 

With  a  commanding  presence,  flowing  white  hair 
framing  the  face  of  a  poet  and  philosopher,  he  made  a 
most  interesting  figure  in  this  beautiful  building,  sur- 
rounded by  the  books  he  loved,  the  emblems  and  cher- 
ished mementoes  of  the  great  order  which  he  reverenced 
and  to  which  he  had  devoted  so  many  years.  He  was 
visited  and  consulted  by  important  persons  from  all  over 
the  world.  And,  when  not  otherwise  engaged,  he  sat  and 


112 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 


MONUMENT  TO  GEN.  ALBERT  PIKE 

Erected   by   the  Scottish   Rite   Masons  in   Washington, 

D.  C.,  in  1899. 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  113 

dreamed,  and  delved  in  ancient  lore,  as  was  his  wont, 
smoking  his  favorite  long  meerschaum  pipe,  and  watching 
his  pet  birds. 

Pike  was  especially  fond  of  birds.  In  his  home  in 
Washington  he  is  said  to  have  had  specimens  of  rare 
birds  from  all  over  the  world,  many  of  which  were  pres- 
ents from  admiring  friends  who  knew  his  love  for  them. 
He  wrote  of  birds: 

I  cannot  love  the  man  who  doth  not  love, 
As  men  love  light,  the  songs  of  happy  birds; 

For  the  first  visions  that  my  boy  heart  wove, 
To  fill  its  sleep  with,  were  that  I  did  rove 

Through  the  fresh  woods,  what  time  the  snowy  herds 
Of  morning  clouds  shrunk  from  the  advancing  sun, 

Into  the  depths  of  Heaven's  blue  heart,  as  words 
From  the  Poet's  lips  float  gently,  one  by  one, 
And  vanish  in  the  human  heart;  and  then 
I  revelled  in  such  songs,  and  sorrowed,  when, 

With  noon-heat,  overwrought,  the  music-gush  was  gone. 

He  became  an  Oddfellow  some  time  in  the  forties,  and 
he  composed  several  anthems  for  that  order. 

He  had  attained  the  zenith  of  distinction  in  Free- 
masonry. He  was  initiated  in  Western  Star  Lodge,  Little 
Rock,  in  1850,  received  the  degree  of  Worshipful  Master 
in  the  following  July;  was  created  a  Knight  Templar  in 
1853;  served  as  Grand  High  Priest  of  the  Grand  Chapter 
of  Arkansas  in  1852-54;  received  the  degrees  of  the  An- 
cient and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  from  the  4th  to  the  32nd 
degree  in  1858,  and  in  January,  1859,  was  elected  M.  P. 
Sovereign  Grand  Commander  of  the  Supreme  Council 


114  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

for  the  Southern  Jurisdiction  of  the  United  States. 

Upon  the  instituting  of  the  Provincial  Grand  Lodge 
for  the  United  States  of  America  of  the  Royal  Order  of 
Scotland,  Sir  and  General  Albert  Pike  was  named  in 
the  warrant  from  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  bearing  date  Oc- 
tober 4,  1877,  as  the  Provincial  Grand  Master  ad  vitam. 

He  was  an  honorary  member  of  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cils of  the  Northern  Jurisdiction  of  the  United  States, 
England  and  Wales,  Scotland,  Ireland,  France,  Belgium, 
Italy,  Greece,  Hungary,  Mexico,  Brazil,  Egypt,  Tunis, 
Peru,  Canada,  Colon,  Nueva  Granada,  and  Honorary 
Grand  Master  and  Grand  Commander  of  the  Supreme 
Councils  of  Brazil,  Tunis  and  Egypt. 

His  daughter,  Mrs.  Lillian  Pike  Roome,  states  that 
Sovereign  Grand  Commander  John  H.  Honour,  his  pre- 
decessor, resigned  that  office  expressly  that  General  Pike 
might  be  elected  as  Sovereign  Grand  Commander.  Gen- 
eral Pike  held  that  office  from  1859  until  his  death,  a 
period  of  thirty-two  years,  which  is  a  remarkable  record. 

He  was  the  compiler  of  the  "Statutes  and  Regulations, 
Institutes,  Laws  and  Grand  Contributions  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite,"  in  French  and  English; 
also,  of  "Morals  and  Dogma,"  a  scholarly  compendium 
of  the  philosophy  and  tenets  of  Freemasonry  in  all  its 
degrees. 

His  Masonic  associates  say  that  he  became  the  most 
eminent  and  best  beloved  Mason  in  the  world,  not  merely 
by  virtue  of  the  exalted  official  position  which  he  held, 
but  because  of  his  high  character  and  lovable  nature, 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  115 

his  scholarly  attainments,  his  writings  and  treatises  on 
the  law  and  symbolism  of  Masonry,  and  the  extraordi- 
nary fund  of  knowledge  which  he  possessed  on  every 
subject,  in  and  out  of  the  order. 

His  great  qualities  enabled  him  to  build  up  the  Scot- 
tish Rite,  and  to  make  the  Supreme  Council  for  the  South- 
ern Jurisdiction  the  most  influential  body  of  the  Rite, 
and  himself  to  be  constituted  the  arbiter  and  judge  in 
all  questions  that  concerned  the  Supreme  Councils  of 
the  world. 

The  Albert  Pike  Consistory  at  Little  Rock,  one  of 
the  finest  Scottish  Rite  cathedrals  in  the  country,  was 
named  in  his  honor.  The  Scottish  Rite  bodies  have  out- 
grown this  home,  and  have  recently  decided  to  erect 
in  Little  Rock  an  Albert  Pike  Memorial  Temple,  to  cost 
a  million  dollars  or  more,  and,  if  the  proposed  plans 
are  carried  out,  the  Temple  will  be  one  of  the  most  per- 
fect Masonic  structures  in  the  world. 

Mr.  Charles  E.  Rosenbaum,  33°,  Sovereign  Grand  In- 
spector General  and  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  Scottish  Rite  Bodies  of  the  Valley  of  Little  Rock, 
in  a  prospectus  issued  on  August  1,  1920,  thus  spoke  of 
Albert  Pike  and  his  own  dream  in  regard  to  the  Memorial 
Temple : 

"To  Every  Mason  in  Arkansas  and  in  the  World 
Where  Masonry  Is  Known:  Albert  Pike  was  the  ideal 
of  the  very  highest  type  of  Masonic  authority,  learning 
and  ability,  and  his  memory  is  revered,  as  it  should  be, 
throughout  all  the  Masonic  world. 


116  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

"  -^—— 

"Here,  in  the  City  of  Little  Rock,  this  distinguished 
man  and  Mason  took  his  first  steps  in  Masonry.  He 
was  initiated,  passed  and  raised  in  Western  Star  Lodge, 
No.  2.  Later,  after  Magnolia  Lodge,  No.  60,  was  char- 
tered, he  became  its  Worshipful  Master,  and  remained  a 
member  thereof  until  his  death.  He  was  also  exalted  in 
Union  Chapter,  No.  2,  Royal  Arch  Masons,  and  served 
as  its  High  Priest.  He  also  served  as  Grand  High  Priest 
of  the  Grand  Chapter  Royal  Arch  Masons  of  Arkansas 
for  two  years.  Hugh  DePayens  Commandery,  Knights 
Templar,  has  the  proud  distinction  of  claiming  this  dis- 
tinguished brother  as  its  first  Eminent  Commander. 
For  many  years  and  until  his  death  he  was  the  only 
honorary  member  of  the  Grand  Commandery,  Knights 
Templar,  of  Arkansas.  Occidental  Council,  Royal  and 
Select  Masters,  was,  until  the  destruction  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  Masonic  Temple  in  Little  Rock,  a  year  ago,  the 
proud  possessor  of  its  Charter  written  entirely  by  Brother 
Albert  Pike  in  that  beautiful  handwriting  so  indicative 
of  the  author.  Unfortunately,  this  priceless  document 
is  now  beyond  recall. 

"It  was  Albert  Pike  who  established  the  Scottish  Rite 
Bodies  in  Little  Rock,  and  we  owe  to  his  memory  the 
very  existence  of  Scottish  Rite  Masonry  in  Arkansas;  in 
fact,  throughout  the  world;  because  his  influence  as  Sov- 
ereign Grand  Commander  for  so  long  a  period  of  time, 
after  leaving  Little  Rock,  for  a  work  commanding  the 
efforts  of  so  great  a  genius,  became  world-wide. 

"It  is,  therefore,  fitting  that  here  in  Little  Rock,  his 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  117 

original  Masonic  home,  the  city  in  which  he  spent  so 
many  years  of  his  fruitful  life,  the  Scottish  Rite  Bodies 
of  the  Valley  of  Little  Rock  should  erect  the  proposed 
beautiful  structure  almost  within  the  shadow  of  the  spa- 
cious and  imposing  residence  he  built  and,  with  his  fam- 
ily, occupied  for  many  years,  until  called  to  fields  of 
larger  endeavor." 

Pike  was  the  beloved  apostle  of  the  Scottish  Rite,  and 
the  fervid  preacher  of  fraternal  association  and  the  broth- 
erhood of  man.  In  one  of  his  addresses  he  beautifully 
and  truthfully  said: 

"Had  mankind  from  the  day  of  the  flood,  steadily 
followed  some  of  the  lessons  taught  them  by  the  indus- 
trious bees,  had  they  associated  themselves  together  in 
lodges,  and  taught  and  faithfully  practiced  Toleration, 
Charity  and  Friendship;  had  even  those  of  the  human 
race  done  so  who  have  professed  the  Christian  faith,  to 
what  imaginable  degrees  of  happiness  and  prosperity 
would  they  not  have  attained!  to  what  extreme  and  now 
invisible  heights  of  knowledge  and  wisdom  would  not 
the  human  intellect  have  soared!  Had  they  but  prac- 
ticed Toleration  alone,  what  a  Garden  of  Eden  would 
this  earth  be  now!  Blood  enough  has  been  spilled  for 
opinion's  sake,  to  fill  the  basin  of  an  inland  sea!  Treas- 
ure enough  has  been  expended  and  destroyed  to  have 
made  the  world  a  garden,  covered  it  with  a  network  of 
roads,  canals  and  bridges,  and  made  its  every  corner 
glorious  with  palaces;  and  the  descendants  of  those  who 
have  been  slain  would  have  thickly  peopled  every  con- 
tinent and  island  of  the  globe. 


118  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

"The  earliest  of  all  lessons  taught  mankind  was  the 
necessity  of  association;  for  it  was  taught  him  in  un- 
mistakable terms  by  his  own  feebleness  and  weakness. 
He  is  an  enigma  to  himself.  Launched,  blind  and  help- 
less, upon  the  great  current  of  Time  and  Circumstance, 
he  drifts,  like  a  helpless  vessel,  onward  to  eternity,  a 
mere  atom  and  mote  of  dust,  clinging  to  infinity,  and 
whirled  along  with  the  revolutions  of  the  Universe.  He 
knows  nothing  truly  of  himself  and  his  fellows.  His 
utmost  effort  never  enables  him  to  get  a  distinct  idea  of 
his  own  nature,  or  to  understand  in  the  least  degree  the 
phenomena  of  his  mind.  Even  his  senses  are  miracles  to 
him.  He  remains  feeble  as  a  child.  Between  him  and 
the  future  is  let  down  a  curtain,  dark,  palpable,  impene- 
trable, like  a  thick  cloud,  through  which  he  gropes  his 
way  and  staggers  onward.  At  every  step  Destiny  meets 
him  in  some  unexpected  shape,  foils  his  purpose,  mocks 
at  his  calculation,  changes  the  course  of  his  life,  and 
forces  him  into  new  paths,  as  one  leads  a  blind  man  by 
the  hand;  and  he  never  knows  at  what  unexpected  mo- 
ment the  arm  of  Death  will  be  thrust  suddenly  forth  from 
behind  the  curtain  and  strike  him  a  sharp  and  unerring 
blow. 

"The  sudden  shifting  of  a  wind,  a  few  cold  drops  of 
rain,  an  unseen  stone  lying  in  his  path,  the  tooth  of  an 
unregarded  serpent,  a  little  globe  of  lead,  the  waving  of 
a  rag  near  to  a  shying  horse,  a  spark  of  fire  on  a  great 
boat  of  a  dark  night,  upon  a  wide,  deep  river;  all  are  to 
him  Death's  messengers,  and  overtake  him  with  a  peremp- 
tory fate.  Stumbling  over  some  object  at  every  step,  he 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  119 

needs  constant  sympathy  and  unremitting  assistance. 
Fortune  smiles  today  and  frowns  tomorrow.  Blindness 
or  palsy  makes  the  strong  man  an  infant;  and  misfor- 
tune, disaster  and  sad  reverses  trick  him  like  gaunt 
hounds,  lying  in  wait  to  seize  him  at  a  thousand  turn- 
ings. 

"Unfortunately,  the  obvious  truth  that  every  man 
either  actually  needs,  or  will  at  some  time  need,  the  char- 
itable assistance,  or,  at  least,  the  friendship,  the  sym- 
pathy, the  counsel,  and  the  good  will  of  others,  like  other 
truths,  produced  but  small  effect  upon  the  early  human 
mind.  Pressed  by  the  urgent  necessities  of  the  moment, 
by  which  alone,  ordinarily,  men's  actions  are  governed, 
they  did  associate  themselves  with  communities,  and  in- 
stitute civil  government,  as  often,  perhaps,  for  purposes 
of  aggression  as  of  defense  or  other  associations.  We 
hear  and  know  nothing  for  very  many  centuries,  and 
then,  except  where  the  light  of  Masonic  tradition  reaches, 
dimly  and  obscurely  only,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Eleu- 
sinean  Mysteries;  whose  purpose  we  can  merely  guess 
at  from  the  faintest  possible  revelations, — hardly  able  to 
say  more  than  that  their  forms  and  ceremonies  bore  a 
faint  resemblance  to  some  used  in  our  time-honored  in- 
stitution. It  is  highly  probable  that  they  had  a  philo- 
sophical and  religious,  rather  than  a  charitable  object." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  WAKE  OF  THE  FINE  ARKANSAS  GENTLEMAN  WHO  DIED 
BEFORE  HIS  TIME;  WITH  SOME  PERSONAL  GLIMPSES. 

Let  us  drink  together,  fellows,  as  we  did  in  days  of  yore. 
And  still  enjoy  the  golden  hours  that  Fortune  has  in 

store; 
The  absent  friends  remembered  be,  in  all  that's  sung  or 

said, 
And  Love  immortal  consecrate  the  memory  of  the  dead. 

It  is  said  that  the  ancients  coveted  the  felicity  of 
knowing  what  would  be  the  eulogies  and  laments  occa- 
sioned by  their  departures  from  the  world.  Pike  once 
had  the  opportunity,  rarely  enjoyed  by  anyone,  of  hear- 
ing read  and  spoken  the  various  obituaries,  resolutions 
of  respect  and  tributes  which  friends  and  associates  had 
prepared  on  account  of  his  supposed  death. 

It  is  learned  from  Ben.  Per  ley  Poore's  Reminiscences 
that  in  January,  1859,  a  report  had  been  circulated  in 
Washington  City  that  General  Pike  had  died  while  on  a 
visit  to  some  distant  city.  His  family  and  friends  were 
greatly  distressed  thereby. 

When  John  Coyle,  an  Irish  character  in  Washing- 
ton, who  kept  a  place  of  some  note  where  liquid  refresh- 
ments were  served,  heard  the  report  of  the  death  of  his 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  121 

friend,  he  made  great  preparations  to   give  a  regular 
"wake"  in  his  honor. 

Alexander  Dimitry,  a  Washington  journalist,  who  was 
also  a  warm  friend  of  Pike's,  had  written  a  lengthy 
obituary  for  the  "Intelligencer,"  and  the  article  was  m 
type  ready  for  the  press. 

But,  strange  to  say,  at  the  last  minute,  while  the  life- 
less body  was  expected,  Pike,  plus  body  and  soul,  ar- 
rived on  the  scene,  to  the  great  delight  of  his  friends. 
There  he  was  before  them,  with  stalwart  form  and  noble 
features,  as  much  in  life  and  health  as  ever. 

The  mistake  had  grown  out  of  the  death  of  Colonel 
Albert  Pickett,  whose  name  being  similar,  had  been 
confounded  with  that  of  Pike. 

Coyle  and  kindred  spirits,  whose  plans  were  so  pleas- 
antly disarranged,  conceived  the  idea  that  it  would  be 
great  sport  to  go  ahead  with  the  wake  as  originally 
planned,  anyway;  and  it  was  accordingly  carried  out, 
at  Coyle's  residence. 

The  event  was  well  attended,  wine  flowed  freely,  and 
Jack  Savage  sang  a  humorous  song  which  Pike  had 
been  induced  to  compose  for  the  occasion,  entitled,  "The 
Life  Wake  of  the  Fine  Arkansas  Gentleman  Who  Died 
Before  His  Time." 

After  hearing  the  numerous  eulogies  which  were 
passed  upon  him,  Pike  arose  and  made  a  speech.  His 
remarks  were  touchingly  eloquent,  especially  when,  after 
acknowledging  the  honor  which  had  been  accorded  him, 
he  graciously  expressed  his  delight  at  hearing  the  kind 
words  about  himself  which  had  been  spoken  by  some 


122  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

who  he  had  feared  were  his  enemies.  He  expressed 
the  fond  hope  that  all  enmity  that  had  existed  between 
himself  and  his  fellow  man  might  forever  remain  buried 
in  the  silent  tomb  to  which  he  was  supposed  to  have  been 
consigned. 

The  party  grew  exceedingly  merry  as  the  fun  pro- 
gressed, and  when  the  crowd  broke  up,  in  the  small  hours 
of  the  morning,  the  men  were  still  singing — 

A  gentleman  from  Arkansas,  not  long  ago,  'tis  said, 
Waked  up  one  pleasant  morning,  and  discovered  he  was  dead; 
He  was  on  his  way  to  Washington,  not  seeking  for  the  spoils, 
But  rejoicing  in  the  promise  of  a  spree  at  Johnny  Coyle's. 

CHORUS. 

One  spree  at  Johnny  Coyle's,  one  spree  at  Johnny  Coyle's; 
And  who  would  not  be  glad  to  join  a  spree  at  Johnny  Coyle's. 

The  song,  'though  good,  is  too  lengthy  to  quote  in 
full.  It  continues  with  a  representation  of  the  dead  man 
being  ferried  by  Charon  across  the  Styx,  protesting  all 
the  time  that  he  doesn't  want  to  go  because  he  has  a  date 
at  Johnny  Coyle's,  and  "alive  or  dead,"  he  must  be  there 
to  meet  some  of  the  best  and  j oiliest  companions  to  be 
found  anywhere. 

He  appeals  to  his  majesty  King  Pluto  for  permis- 
sion to  have  one  more  frolic  at  Coyle's,  but  Pluto  will 
not  release  him,  saying,  "if  it's  good  company  you  want, 
we've  the  best — philosophers,  poets,  wits,  statesmen,  and 
the  rest;  there's  Homer  here,  and  all  the  bards  of  ancient 
Greece,  and  the  chaps  that  sailed  away  so  far  to  fetch 
the  Golden  Fleece;"  and  "we've  nectar  and  ambrosia 
here, — we  do  not  starve  the  dead."  The  subject  of  the 
wake  replies  that  these  distinguished  personages  cannot 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  123 

compare  with  his  friends  at  Johnny  Coyle's  like  Walter 
Knox,  Byard,  Ash  White,  Philip  Key,  Ben  Tucker,  Ben 
Per  ley  Poore,  George  French,  et  al.,  etc.;  but  Pluto  is 
resolute  and  in  detaining  him  says,  "Enough,  the  law 
must  be  enforced,  'tis  plain  if  with  these  fellows  once 
you  get,  you'll  ne'er  return  again."  The  shade  appeals 
to  Proserpina,  and  the  queen  of  Hades  interceded  for 
him,  hangs  'round  Pluto's  neck  and  kisses  him  in  behalf 
of  the  newcomer,  saying,  "Let  him  go,  my  love,  he'll 
surely  come  again." 

There  are  many  verses,  ending — 

Said  he,  "I  won't;"  said  she,  "Dear  lord,  do  let  me  have  my  way! 
Let  him  be  present  at  his  wake!     How  can  you  say  me  nay? 
I'm  sure  you  do  not  love  me;  if  you  did  you'd  not  refuse, 
When  I  want  to  get  the  fashions,  and  you  want  to  hear  the  news. 

CHORUS. 

And  so  at  last  the  queen  prevailed,  as  women  always  do, 
And  thus  it  comes  that  once  again  this  gentleman's  with  you; 
He's  under  promise  to  return,  but  that  he  means  to  break, 
And  many  another  spree  to  have  besides  the  present  wake. 

The  wake,  as  may  be  imagined,  was  an  immense  suc- 
cess. It  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  enjoyable  fes- 
tivals which  ever  took  place  at  the  national  capital. 

It  is  clearly  seen  that  Pike  was  a  versatile  genius,  that 
he  had  adaptability,  was  a  good  mixer,  and  a  man  of 
broad  sympathies.  It  is  noteworthy  that,  while  essen- 
tially a  pioneer,  fond  of  the  prairie  and  of  wild  life, 
an  Indian  chief  by  selection,  he  should  hold  his  own 
with  the  most  sophisticated  and  prove  an  epicure  among 
bon  vivants. 

Quotation  is  made  from  an  unpublished  manuscrpit 
written  by  the  late  Colonel  J.  N.  Smithee: 


124  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

"In  the  hotels,  old  French  restaurants  and  coffee 
houses  in  New  Orleans  and  Washington,  it  was  the  fash- 
ion to  duplicate  the  dishes  of  Captain  Pike.  There  are 
few  people  who  know  how  to  order  a  dinner,  usually 
being  content  with  what  the  waiter  chooses  to  set  before 
them.  Pike  was  fond  of  a  good  dinner,  good  wine  and 
genial  companions,  and  he  knew  how  to  select  each. 
Often  he  visited  the  national  capital  to  appear  as  an  at- 
torney before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
There  Pike's  dinners  became  famous  and  he  drew  around 
him  as  jolly  a  set  of  companions  and  bon  vivants  as 
ever  graced  the  board  of  Lucullus.  Among  them  were 
the  brightest,  brainiest  and  wittiest  men  in  the  nation's 
capital.  They  included  editors,  poets,  authors  and  states- 
men." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Pike  was  a  man  who  enjoyed 
life.  He  was  also  generous  to  a  fault.  Although  he  had 
an  extensive  law  practice  at  one  time  and  received  enor- 
mous fees,  he  accumulated  no  property.  He  was  a  greax 
spender  for  the  good  things  of  life,  as  well  as  a  liberal 
dispenser  of  charity  when  in  funds.  The  following  two 
verses  from  a  ten-verse  poem  written  by  him,  entitled, 
"An  Anciente  Fytte,  Pleasant  and  Full  of  Pastyme,  of 
a  Dollar  or  Two,"  further  evidences  his  love  of  fun  and 
keen  sense  of  humor: 

With  circumspect  steps  we  pick  our  way  through 
This  intricate  world,  as  all  prudent  folks  do, 
May  we  still  on  our  journey,  be  able  to  view 
The  benevolent  face  of  a  Dollar,  or  two. 
For  an  excellent  thing  is  a  Dollar,  or  two; 
No  friend  is  so  staunch  as  a  Dollar,  or  two; 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  125 

In  country  or  town, 
As  we  stroll  up  and  down, 
We  are  cock  of  the  walk,  with  a  Dollar,  or  two. 

Do  you  wish  to  emerge  from  the  bachelor-crew? 
And  a  charming  young  innocent  female  to  woo? 
You  must  always  be  ready  the  handsome  to  do, 
Although  it  may  cost  you  a  Dollar,  or  two. 

For  love  tips  his  darts  with  a  Dollar,  or  two; 
Young  affections  are  gained  by  a  Dollar,  or  two; 
And  beyond  all  dispute 
The  best  card  of  your  suit 
Is  the  eloquent  chink  of  a  Dollar,  or  two. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  CLOSE  OF  AN  EVENTFUL  LIFE. 

Our  afternoon  of  life  has  come. 
Its  darkening  hours  are  here; 

The  evening  shadows  lengthen, 
And  the  night  is  drawing  near; 

To  some  the  sky  is  bright,  to  some 

With  clouds  is  overcast; 
But  still  upon  our  Present  smiles 

The  Light  of  Days  long  past. 

It  will  be  remembered  with  what  fortitude  Pike  at- 
tended the  wake  which  was  given  at  Washington  on  the 
occasion  of  his  reported  death,  when  he  realized  that  his 
end  could  not  be  many  years  delayed.  He  smiled  then, 
and  he  may  have  smiled  when  the  real  obituaries  were 
almost  due,  perhaps  glad  that  another,  the  greatest  ad- 
venture, was  at  hand.  He  was  a  philosopher.  The  time 
had  come  when,  to  use  his  own  words,  he  "stood  upon 
the  shores  of  the  great  sea,  beyond  which,  far  out  of 
sight,  lies  a  land  mysterious  and  silent,  all  unknown." 

He  had  tasted  of  all  the  sweets  of  life;  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  almost  every  line  of  human  endeavor  and  am- 
bition; like  the  rest  of  us,  he  had  had  his  sorrows,  but 
he  had  reaped  rich  rewards. 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  127 

He  became  ill  and  suffered  for  many  months;  he 
wasted  away  to  a  mere  shadow,  but  the  golden  gift  of 
memory  made  his  last  moments  sweet.  His  daughter 
Mrs.  Lillian  Pike  Roome,  stated  that,  "from  moment  to 
moment,  the  change  was  so  slight,  the  extinction  of  the 
vital  flame  so  gradual,  that  it  was  scarcely  perceptible 
when  the  last  breath  was  drawn.  His  mind  was  clear  to 
the  last,  and  busied  with  thoughts  of  relatives  and 
friends."  He  expired  on  the  2nd  of  April,  1891,  at  his 
residence  in  the  Holy  House  of  the  Scottish  Rite  Temple 
at  Washington,  in  his  82nd  year. 

He  died  steadfast  in  the  belief  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul.  He  said  that,  "although  even  the  inspired 
word  gives  us  no  definite  information  in  regard  to  it,  or 
could  do  so  in  words  that  would  reach  our  understanding, 
it  could  not  be  that  our  intellect  and  individuality  cease 
to  be  when  the  vitality  of  the  body  ends." 

A  little  more  than  a  month  prior  to  his  death  he 
wrote  these  directions  as  to  the  disposition  of  his  re- 
mains : 

"Orient  of  Washington,  District  of  Columbia, 

The  28th  Day  of  February,  1891,  C.  E. 

"These  are  my  wishes  and  directions  in  regard  to  the 
disposition  of  my  body  after  death. 

"I  forbid  any  autopsy  or  dissection  of  my  body  to 
gratify  curiosity,  or  for  the  benefit  of  science,  or  for  any 
other  reason. 

"If  I  die  in  or  near  Washington,  let  my  body  be 
placed  in  no  casket,  but  in  a  plain  coffin,  covered  with 


128  The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

black  cloth,  and  taken,  in  the  evening  of  the  day,  to  the 
Cathedral-room  of  the  Scottish  Rite,  or  a  church,  without 
any  procession,  parade  or  music.  At  midnight  let  the 
funeral  offices  of  the  Kadosh  be  performed  there  over 
my  body  and  none  other  either  then  or  afterwards;  and, 
on  the  next  morning  early,  let  it  be  taken  by  nine  or 
twelve  brethren  of  the  Scottish  Rite  to  Baltimore  or  Phil- 
adelphia, and  cremated  without  any  ceremony  than  the 
word  'Good-bye!'  Let  my  ashes  be  put  around  the  roots 
of  the  two  acacia  trees  in  front  of  the  home  of  the  Su- 
preme Council. 

"I  desire  that  no  Lodge  of  Sorrow  be  holden  for  me; 
eulogies  of  the  dead  are  too  indiscriminate  to  be  of  great 
value.  If  the  works  prepared  by  me  for  the  Scottish  Rite 
shall  be  valued  and  used  after  I  am  dead,  ad  perpetuitem 
ritus,  I  do  not  desire  and  shall  not  need  any  other  eulogy ; 
and  if  they  shall  not,  I  shall  need  no  other.  If  I  were  to 
be  buried  (of  which  and  its  'worms  and  rottenness  and 
cold  dishonor'  I  have  a  horror),  I  should  desire  to  have 
put  upon  my  gravestone  only  my  name,  the  dates  of  my 
birth  and  death,  and  these  words: 

Laborum  Ejus  Superstites  Sunt  Fructus  Vixit. 
(Signed)     ALBERT  PIKE." 

The  shell  of  this  king  of  adventurers  was  laid  away 
under  the  shade  of  a  tree  in  a  pretty  spot  in  Oak  Hill 
Cemetery  at  Washington.  There  rest  the  remains  of  a 
glorious  man,  who  conquered  almost  everything  except 
death. 

The  body  was  not  subjected  to  the  heartless  fires  of 


The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike  129 

cremation,  but,  as  he  desired,  the  Kadosh  funeral  services 
were  held  in  the  Congregational  church  in  Washington. 
For  a  number  of  years  the  grave  was  unmarked. 
Only  the  rustling  leaves  and  the  sighing  winds  told  of 
the  distinguished  inhabitant  of  the  graveyard.  Many 
Masonic  pilgrims  to  the  grave  had  experienced  difficulty 
in  finding  it.  But  in  1917,  the  surviving  members  of  the 
family,  who  had  expressed  the  thought  that  the  duty  to 
do  so  rested  upon  them,  placed  over  the  grave  a  suitable 
stone  of  white  marble,  bearing  the  inscription  which  the 
deceased  had  wished  to  be  placed  there  if  his  body  was 
to  be  buried. 

Of  course,  the  Masons  would  provide  a  memorial 
for  him,  although,  many  years  before,  he  had  said, 
"When  I  am  dead,  I  wish  my  monument  to  be  builded  in 
the  hearts  and  memories  of  my  brethren  of  the  Ancient 
and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite."  A  magnificent  heroic 
bronze  statue,  designed  and  erected  by  Trentanove,  fh« 
noted  Italian  sculptor,  was  erected  to  his  memory  at 
Washington  by  his  brethren  and  associates  of  the  Scot- 
tish Rite.  It  was  unveiled  at  the  session  of  the  order  in 
1901  and  presented  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States. 

The  monument  represents  General  Pike  in  a  character- 
istic pose,  with  a  book  in  his  right  hand,  and  the  likeness 
is  said  to  be  very  striking.  The  pedestal  is  of  granite, 
and  sitting  at  its  base  is  a  second  figure,  representing  the 
Goddess  of  Masonry,  symbolical  of  all  the  virtues,  and 
bearing  aloft  the  banner  of  the  Scottish  Rite.  The  un- 


130 The  Life  Story  of  Albert  Pike 

veiling  ceremony  was  one  of  the  most  important  Masonic 
events  that  ever  took  place.  Dignitaries  of  the  order 
were  present  from  all  over  the  country.  Masons  every- 
where mourned  his  loss,  and  many  glowing  tributes  to 
his  character  and  worth  have  been  paid  by  the  world  at 
large. 

Lodges  of  Sorrow  were  held  in  New  Orleans,  Little 
Rock  and  at  Lyons,  Iowa. 

In  a  tribute  to  him,  Colonel  P.  Dolan,  of  Fargo,  S. 
D.,  said,  "Albert  Pike,  a  king  among  men  by  the  divine 
right  of  merit;  a  giant  in  body,  in  brain,  in  heart  and  in 
soul  *  *  climbed  Fame's  glittering  ladder  to 

its  loftiest  height,  and  stepped  from  its  topmost  round 
into  the  skies." 

"To  the  past  go  more  dead  faces 

Every  Year; 
As  the  loved  leave  vacant  places 

Every  Year." 


